Lollipops & Lemonade
by Cardboard Edward
Summary: She had always wanted to become a Pokemon Trainer. The good new is, she does. The bad news? Her whole life is a lie. Based off Heartgold and Soulsilver. Companion fic to Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk.
1. it's a whole new world we live in

This is an author's note, because those are what cool kids do. Hi. ;]

* * *

She was going to be in trouble, if she just kept sitting there.

It was sunny and warm and nice and she liked to stay there unmoving, pretending she hadn't begged her mom to let her go off on her own for months, like she could just stay a little girl in her little town forever.

(She didn't know she never really had a choice, but whatever.)

She leaned against her house, admiring her mailbox and her brand new shoes and the sky and the grass and the Marill that just smashed into her leg.

Frowning slightly, she watched as the Marrill bounced up to her knees, perched and looked at her critically. Little frozen cold shudders were making her way down her back, when, just as suddenly as his Pokemon, a teenage boy bounded up to her.

"Ahaha! I'm so sorry, Tama~ Marill just started running away from me!" He plucked the blue mouse from its seat by its ears.

"…No problem, Ethan. And I told you, don't call me that." She curled one of her pigtails around her finger, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Ah? Why not? It's cute!" Ethan protested, Marill now squirming in his grip.

"Exactly. I'm the new, tough, badass Tamaki. No time for girly nicknames, alright?" She glared at him. He stared obediently back, until a smile cracked over her lips and she started giggling.

He grinned back at her, and she took the moment in happily, absorbing the picture perfect view of the two of them happily chatting outside her house, like how it always was before. And she ignored the headache in her head reminding her that she decided that this life wasn't _good enough for her_, and she was just about to leave her best friend all alone.

Tamaki was having trouble accepting this.

Ethan extended his hand to her, helping her up, and Tamaki was just about to crack a joke about his gentlemanliness today when she suddenly realized she now was really, REALLY late.

"Oh, craaa… darn," (he hated when she cussed) "Ethan, I'm going to be in so much trouble if I don't run now-"

"Elm is what, 30 second away from us right now? Come on…I know you're desperate to get away from me-"

'Ethan, I'm an HOUR LATE."

She had just enough time to see his eyebrows almost shoot off the top of his head before she sprinted ahead, her yellow bag swingy wildly behind her.

* * *

Of course, as soon as she managed to get in front of Elm's mailbox, it hit her that it was daylight savings time, and she was early. She glanced around, trying to find Ethan, but he had managed to disappear instantly when she wasn't looking. He had a knack for that.

She sighed through her nose (which she always found was much more satisfying then the more dramatic mouth sigh) and prepared to wait it out until one of his aids showed up to let her in.

She was about to collapse on the grass again until she felt someone's gaze on her.

She whipped her head around (a dangerous motion, if someone was in the radius of her pigtails) and saw a flash of red disappear around the corner of the building.

Tamaki knew her town well, and she knew not a single member was a redhead. She thought it might possibly be a pokemon, but the local pokes around the close routes were generally quite small and short. So, of course, she bounded over to the side of the building (not even attempting stealth, knowing that it already saw her)

She immediately wondered why she didn't notice him before.

His hair was startlingly red. And spikey. He wore a high collared jacket, and- were his pants lavender? A smile started to twist onto her face, before his sharp, angry voice immediately snapped her back out of her thoughts of lavender pants and sharp, intelligent eyes-

"What are you looking at?"

Oh. Yeah. She had been staring.

"Ah! Sorry, my names-"

Tamaki founded herself stumbling. He had both of his hands on her shoulders, gripping them tightly- and he seemed to of let go as soon as she realized what was happening.

She swung back, her right leg snapping down to steady her. She probably looked like a ridiculous amateur surfer, her legs steadily holding on to the ground as her arms wobbled from her sides.

He looked at her like a cat would examine the butterfly it just crushed.

Tamaki regained her footing, and she found her hands forming fists and her heart pounding angrily. Her lips parted to let out an explosion of every cuss world and insult she knew, when he placed his index finger on her lips.

"Don't mess with me."

Tamaki stumbled again, and he turned away from her dismissively.

She was pretty sure her cheeks were burning.

…From anger, of course.

She turned her back away from him, stomping off loudly, swinging her arms side to side, her thoughts buzzing with angry thoughts (she hadn't caught his name, so she had dubbed him "Jackass Ginger" for the time being) when she saw one of Elm's aides had arrived and was quietly unlocking the door. Tamaki's shoulders relaxed a little and she followed the guy obediently inside.

* * *

She now was standing outside, glancing at a small fire Pokemon happily burning the grass around it. Prof. Elm said it was a girl, which she thought was kinda sweet. Name? She had no idea, but she didn't want to leave it nameless (she and Ethan would spend hours and hours thinking of nicknames for future pokemon during sleepovers, unable to stop talking about pokemon for even five minutes.)

As she remembered her task, she went to march out to the route, being very, very, very sure not to make even the tiniest glance to the right. If she did, he'd probably be in danger in getting all of his oh so _lovely _(and girly as hell) hair burned off by her cute little fire monster. And she was pretty sure that was considered arson and didn't really like the idea of her adventure getting cut off 5 minutes into it.

Tamaki was about to leap into the tall grass when Ethan teleported right before her eyes. Alright, not LITERALLY, but the boy was proving for 698362nd time he had the amazing talent to literally appear out of nowhere. He grinned.

"That's your starter?" he spun behind her to get a better look at the Cyndaquil. Tamaki looked over her shoulder as she spoke.

"Yep. She's a girl. Nameless, as of yet."

"Eva." He declared, looking straight at the Pokemon's (unopened) eyes.

"What?"

"She's definitely an Eva."

"Nuh-uh- … actually.. I think you're right. Huh. She is pretty Eva-y." She smiled at Ethan (or at least the back of his head, as he was deep into a whispery conversation with the fire type.)

His head suddenly shot up and he looked over her, from her bright red shoes and poofy blue overalls to the hat she absolutely loved and adored (Ethan had given it to her for her last birthday, and she had saved it just for this day.)

"Hey, you're about to head out, aren't you?" She nodded. "Then you better get over to your Mom's. She's still got your pokegear, right?"

"Oh snap! You're right! Thank you, augh, I almost forgot!" She was about to speed off when she stopped short and skidding on the grass. Eva crashed into her leg, but thankfully turned down her fire in time.

"Ethan! Don't you dare leave before I get back here!" Tamaki fiercely stared into Ethan's bright blue, curious eyes.

"Oh, why~? You don't think I was planning on just letting you go off all by your lonesome, right?"

Her eyes brightened. "You're coming wi-"

"Elm assigned me with a project of my own. He knows how much I love traveling, so he gave me a task he thought would suit me." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "… But what were you going to say?"

"Oh. Um. Nothing." Her pigtail was twirling endlessly again.

"Liar."

"Gotta go." She flashed a quick (very fake) smile and ran off. Tamaki was realizing, with a thudding feeling, that she had never been on her own before. And it wasn't the actual journey or anything like that (she was a tough girl, she could manage) but the loneliness. The idea of barely seeing her best friend anymore was making her feel awful. She hated that feeling, and hated having to constantly remind her self that she was "tough" and she didn't need to feel sad or girly or-

As if she was reading her mind, the prickle of tears was stopped by a soft bump on her leg. Eva was facing her, eyes still shut but attention clearly focused, bumping her leg again. Tamaki kneeled down and took her into her arms.

"Least I have you, you silly fuzball." She smiled, and ignored the road ahead.


	2. ring ring ring ring banana phone

Chapter two, wooahh! Chapter three should be out on Monday. :D

* * *

She had been wandering around for maybe about twenty minutes and she STILL hadn't found this person. At least she got some cool new shoes (which, oddly, looking exactly like her old pair.)

Eva was happily hopping in the grass as Tamaki sighed, turning around slowly. "If I was an old guy who really likes Pokemon, where would I be.."

She had already checked out the house a few feet away from her, which only contained a guy mumbling about fruits, and asked all of the trainers around the area. (Who were scary young, she couldn't imagine being a trainer when she was _eight_.)

She was heavily considering turning around to ask Elm for better instructions, when she saw a route she hadn't noticed before. "AH-A!" She laughed triumphantly, scooping her bag off the ground and jumping into a run. Eva seemed surprised at the sudden burst of energy, but eagerly followed her trainer.

Glad she hadn't encountered any Pokemon along the way, Tamaki panted outside 's house, trying to catch her breath, thinking about how Ethan would make a stupid pun about being out of pokeballs right now. Once functioning properly, she stepped into the house and immediately spotted two old guys. The first of which walked over to her.

"Ah, you must be Tamaki!" She nodded. He went on about something as she glanced around the room, noting that the other man was staring at her intently.

"This is what I want Professor Elm to examine." He deposited an oversized egg in to her arms, which she almost dropped in surprise. Oops. Note to self, she thought. Listen to old guys rants from now on. He started up again, telling her where he got it (Ecutreak, Ecutreak_, _remember that city, it sounds awesome.) and offering to heal Eva, which she gladly accepted.

Suddenly, the other guy moved from his perch from behind his computer. He was Professor Oak, and he.. professed things, and pokemon, and he, uh…

Another object was suddenly given to her. This time, it was a sleek, pink…pokedex, wasn't it? Yeah. He gave her his number, smiled, and bid her a day.

… Were these old men rants going to be frequent? If so, she was going to need a better attention span. Tamaki nodded goodbye to and headed out the door again…

…Where she was immediately harassed by the ringing of her pokegear. Elm's frantic filled her in.

"H-hello? Tamaki? It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It… Oh, no… please get back here now!" And with that, he hung up abruptly.

Tamaki held the Pokegear uncertainly to her ear. She was finding herself oddly panicked, especially as she had always known Elm as a cool, collected and happy fellow... the exact opposite of the man who had just panicked into her ear.

She could help but have her thoughts jump to the mysterious b- Jackass Ginger, who WAS standing right outside his lab, and WAS looking into his window, and was a total asshole, and was really suspicious, and…

…Shit. This was totally her fault, wasn't it?

She broke off into another sudden sprint. Damnit, damnit, damnit, she saw that stupid redhead; she KNEW he was bad news, and she didn't tell anyone. Not even Ethan. And now something bad happened, and it was all her fault, and she seriously wanted to punch herself.

Tamaki was back in Cherrygrove soon enough, dodging Pokemon and trainers along the way, panting again and really wishing she wasn't wearing so many layers. She sucked in a sharp breath, apologized quickly to her worried Cyndaquil, and was about to shoot through the route when the devil himself appeared.

He strode towards her, smug smirk plastered onto his face, and she realized this was the first time she saw his face move from angry disapproval.

She preferred the scowl.

He studied her without saying a word, staring at her pokedex, hanging from her bag steadily. She glared at him, equally silent, wondering if she could drag him back with her to New Bark Town. Or maybe she could lock him in one of the houses here, and call the poli-

"That's your Pokemon?"

Oh, sure, she couldn't pay attention to wise old men, but he spoke and his voice cut through her thoughts like a violin. His voiced suited him well. She hated it more then she hated his hair, which was saying something.

"Elm must be a complete idiot to give a Pokemon like that to a person like you."

Like you? What the hell did that even mean? She hadn't even spoken more then 3 words to the guy, it was like he had already decided she was a weak useless.. weakling, because she was a gi-

…Oh.

Oh, she was going to kill him.

"You're not even worth the time to battle y-"

"Are you challenging me?" She was seething, her voice was leaking venom, she was more viciously angrily then she had been in years.

"…Perhaps I am." And he knew it, and was taking it all in stride. His smirk seemed to be glued to his face.

"Bring it." Eva had already jumped in front of her, no cue needed.

He pulled a plain pokeball out from his pocket, and instantly the Pokemon was released.

It was tiny, and cute. And green.

His smirk fell off his face in an instant, as he realized his giant mistake. Tamaki felt malicious glee at his disappointment. She wasn't sure what it was at first, the fact it was cute, or looked weak, or..? She clued in, as he seemed lost for words when trying to pick an attack.

'… You were trying to get the water type, weren't you?"

He was avoiding eye contact, but, by the way his eyebrows (red as well, huh) smashed together, she was pretty sure she hit the target dead on.

She ordered Eva to tackle again and again as she tried to swallow her evil grin at seeing him struggle, trying so hard to win, to beat her. He was a competitive guy, she could tell that much. Four turns flashed by in an instant and his grass Pokemon fell to the ground.

"…" He was muttering something to himself.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you!" She was biting her lip from busting up laughing now.

"You happy you won?" He said, teeth gritted.

"VERY." She finally let a smile escape, showing all her teeth and being as obnoxious as she possibly could.

"This is nothing." He said, to the ground, mostly, as his Pokemon went back into its ball (she made a mental note to remind herself to check its species on the Pokdex) "I'm going to be the worlds greatest Pokemon trainer." He said it so quietly that she almost didn't catch it. Something about his tone automatically alerted her that he was dead serious about this goal. She would of just backed off and pretended she didn't hear it…. If it wasn't for the fact he was the biggest douche in the world.

"Well, then you better tell me your name so I can spread the word."

His eyes met hers then. He was glaring at her so fiercely that she thought his hatred would knock her over.

"Like hell I'm telling you." He said, and with that, he was off.

He hadn't gotten 2 feet away from her before she spotted a small white card sitting in the grass.

Tamaki plucked it off the ground in one quick swoop, planning on pocketing it and running before he came running back at her.

"Give it back!"

He was trying to grab her arm, which was holding the card high above her head, but her trusty Cyndaquil was causing a roadblock. She knew she loved that thing already.

"That's my trainer card!" Mistake for him.

"… Ooooh!" She lowered the card and glanced at it, where she saw a small picture of him (scowling, as usual) and some stats. Most importantly.. a name.

He had taken advantage of her momentary distraction, and attacked her from the side, shoving her down and grabbing the card from her loose fingers. She landed uncomfortably on her ass.

"...She saw my name… DAMNIT." She assumed he didn't mean to say that out loud. He ran off without a second glance at her.

Tamaki sat, sprawled on the ground, Eva flittering around her worriedly, for several seconds after he fled. Maybe a minute. She assumed he wasn't a huge fan of his name, due to the reaction, and she couldn't blame him. It was super girly. … Which matched his hair and pants. Ha. And still…

"Haruhi, Huh?"


	3. bank robbers and cowboy cops

I LIED. Early chapter, because I am going to be insanely busy on Monday. Anyhow. Thank you, you two sweet, wonderful reviewers. You deserve lolipops AND Lemonade. Also I, am way amused by the fact you guys figured out the name thing so fast. Next chapter probably won't be until mid-next-weekish. See you then!

* * *

Tamaki stood up unsteadily, pushing her stubborn bangs back under her hat.

"Lets get going." She said to Eva with a sigh. "Though I have a feeling I know what Elm's going to be talking about.."

She walked at a slow pace on the route, with Eva seemingly happy for a chance to rest her tiny legs. She had been away from home for about an hour now, the sun still high in the sky, sunset probably not too far away.

She was back home soon enough, knowing the route almost by heart, now. She turned into Elm's lab, completely prepared to break the bad news.

… or at least, try to.

Police officer. Perfect. Tamaki solemnly approached him, looked straight into his confrontational brown eyes hidden under thick brows, and sai-

"WHO ARE YOU?"

He shouted into her face. Ouch.

"We're investigating the case of missing pokemon!" He shouted these words at her in rapid succession. "Rule number one! WHOEVER DID IT WILL COME BACK TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME!" He was staring into her soul now, and unveiled the handcuffs hidden behind his back, looking at her grimly as he prepared to snap them o-

Wait, WHAT? She stared desperately at Elm, who was just looking confused and sad and helpless, and she fumbled for words, trying to think of what to say (why didn't she take a picture or something!) when Ethan burst through the door dramatically.

No, he really did. He pushed the door open, arms flailing as he did, and walked over to the group. Tamaki barely hid her giggles (but decided to try, not really wanting to see the officer's reaction to them.)

"Hold on a second." He said, gently but strongly releasing her from the policeman's grip.

"Officer, it wasn't her." Ethan looked at him solemnly, and the officer's glare broke off instantly. She had seen Ethan do that before. He could look at someone, decades older then him, just look, really look, and suddenly it was like whatever argument they had with him was completely forgotten. She had always wanted to know how he did that, but never have the guts to ask him. He'd probably just smile at her and ask what she was talking about, as he always did with questions he didn't feel like answering.

He had a lot of those.

"Some redheaded jerk was here earli-"

"Yes!" Ethan glanced at her, probably trying to convey that she should just hush up. She ignored him.

"He was standing outside here earlier, then he harassed me-" Ethan hadn't heard that yet. He looked like someone just told him his Marril had been pushed down an elevator shaft. "-And then he battled with me WITH A STOLEN GRASS POKEMON!" she shouted like someone in a badly acted court case.

The officer looked surprised. "Wait, what? Seriously?" Tamaki nodded her head determinately. "That must be him!" Duh. "Did you get his name?"

"Haruhi." She said, staring at him fiercely.

All three guys- Ethan, Elm, and the Officer- stared at her incredulously.

"Uh." Was Elm.

"…" and a growly sigh from the officer.

"… Tamaki, they're looking for a boy." Ethan looked at her as if trying to explain something to a small child. Not uncommon with him, he had a minor superiority complex, generally completely random and really annoying.

"… but that's him. His.. his names Haruhi. I saw his trainer card."

Ethan turned his head to one side, almost parallel to his shoulder.

"…. A guy… named Haruhi?" he burst into laughter, happy and perfectly suiting him. "Wow… that… that fits."

The officer sighed and seemed to accept this fact, nodding slowly. "Then I have to go find this… Haruhi. Sorry about earlier." He nodded curtly at Tamaki and wandered out the door.

Ethan looked at her now, confused and very very concerned at the same time. She had a feeling he would of starting harassing her with questions, if it wasn't for the fact Elm cut him off before he could begin.

"Sorry, Ethan, but I think I need to talk to her alone."

Ethan hesitated for a second, seemingly trying to decide whether or not he should give him one of his Deep, Dark, Ethan stares, and decided against it, just nodding at Elm and mouthing "harassment?" at Tamaki with a palms up shrug. She nodded in a way she hoped he would interrupt as LATER, OKAY. He rolled his eyes, smiled with a tinch of concern, and left.

How very Ethan.

(Why did she keep repeating that? Of course he was acting like Ethan. He was Ethan. Obviously.)

Tamaki and Elm caught up over the next couple minutes, with her explaining the egg, pokedex, etc.. and he smiled at her, looking like he had completely forgotten that a teenager had just stolen one of his pokemon. But. Yeah. Smiling.

"You should take the pokemon gym challenge. It will be… challenging, but I think you'll do just fine."

"Was planning to, Professor Elm." She smiled back.

"You should talk to your mom before you head off." She laughed one notedly.

"I'm not that bad of a kid, you know." She smiled at him again, nodded, and exited the lab.

* * *

Her mom tackled her with a hug as soon as she got through the door, acting like she was gone for weeks instead of a couple hours. She laughed (and rolled her eyes)

"Hey, mom."

"How am I going to handle you being gone all the time? Oh, I'm going to be such a mess…."

"You'll do fine, mom. And I will too! I have a pokemon, a pokegear, and some money-" her mother made a tsking noise.

"… oh dear, you with money?"

"What? I can handle money just fine." She pouted.

"…. Remember when you were saving to buy a bike, and every cent you earned you would spend the next day..?"

"I was _eight_!"

"And you still don't have a bike! Sweetheart, I'm just worried. I won't be able to keep your money for you… unless.. aha! When you get money, you can just send it to me!"

"No way." Tamaki grumbled stubbornly, arms crossed.

"Fine. Half of it?"

"….maybe."

"Well, that settled then! I'll keep it nice and safe for you."

"I am going to do JUST FINE, okay?" Tamaki announced passionately, turning towards the door.

"Whatever."

"JUST FINE!' The shout bounced off of her as she strode outside.

Her mom laughed, rolling her eyes. "Love you, sweetheart!"

A pause.

"Love you too, mom."

* * *

She was back onto Route 29 for the thousandth time, watching the sun sink down in the distance, and spotted Ethan standing at the route, hands in his pockets.

"Took you long enough!"

"You were waiting for me?"

"Obviously!" he grinned. She laughed and walked closer to him.

"Yeah, well, why?"

"Iiiii, am going to teach you how to catch a pokemon!"

"oh teach me, mighty pokemon master!" She bowed dramatically. He was staring at her strangely, a weird smirk twisting his features. It was gone in a second.

"That, I shall do!" He pointed off into the distance, leading marril into the tall grass. Tamaki followed obediently behind.

* * *

"And that, is how you catch a wild pokemon!" He fistair'd with the pokeball in his hand, looking accomplished.

"Sweet. Can I keep it?"

"No."

"…well you suck." He laughed.

"Here." He took out five pokeballs from his bag.

"… that will do." She said, organizing them in her own oversized purse.

"Thought it would." He grinned again. She looked at him, staring him over, thinking, considering, wondering,..

"Ethan…" He glanced at her, concerned at her tone.

"With that guy earlier today… maybe-" was she really going to use this excuse? Damn, she was bad at lying. "-maybe I need a bodyguard." She finished this with a curt nod.

Did he consider it? She couldn't tell. She just knew he let time slowly pass before he chuckled and shook his head.

"Nah, you'll do fine. I know it. Believe in yourself!" He grabbed her hands, and they stood close together, noses almost touching, hands interlocked.

"You're going to become a great trainer one day." He stared at her so deeply that she wondering if he was trying to brain wash her into believing it. She paused, and then sighed quietly, leaning towards him, so that their foreheads were pressed together, her hat almost slipping off her head. At this, his shoulders jumped slightly. Another Ethan mystery to add to the book.

"I'm scared." She whispered. Quiet. Vulnerable. Secret.

"Don't be." She couldn't figure out if his smile was more parts sweet or genuine.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Tamaki jumped(thankfully managing not to crash into his nose while doing so) and glanced at her pokegear.

"That would be mine." He laughed. "Sorry about that."

She shook her head. "Its fine. I need to get going, anyways." She waved her hand at him sharply, stepping out of the grass, suddenly halted. He was holding her back by her overall strap.

"Hey. Don't worry. You'll be fine. I won't allow any other outcome." She saw his smile as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

They pinkey'd for good measure. And with that, he slowly walked off into the sunset, his marril glancing back at her as they disappeared from her viewpoint, talking quietly into his pokegear. Mysterious indeed.


	4. it's electrifying!

THIS IS TOTALLY MID WEEK AMIRITE. Okay no. Sorry I lied. Anywaaays, chapters will be a bit slow for the next week and then I am free from the hell that is school for the summer, which means lots of writing and hopefully lots of updates. :D Also, pllleeease don't forget to read Cigarrettes & Chocolate Milk, because this story really doesn't work without it. I mean, you don't have to, it's just... better that way, or something. Anyways. See you next update.

* * *

Tamaki was beginning to wonder if she even needed a town map, with all the times she had to run through Cherrygrove over the course of… maybe an hour? Ugh. Felt like she had the town and the routes surrounding it memorized. To her relief, two trainers had finished their battle and were ready to battle her, so she sent out Eva and beat them easily, realizing she needed a new team member soon. One of the trainers- Josh? No, wait. Joey. That was it.-Asked for her pokegear number. She refused as politely as she could, as the kid kinda gave her the creeps. Plus, her mom would probably scream at her if she wasted her minutes… wait, did pokegears have minutes? She barely knew how it worked, to be honest.

She was almost in Violet City-, which was exciting. Her first gym- she was terrified and ecstatic at the same time. She passed a cave, shuddering at the chill breeze drifting from it, and entered a route transitiony thing. Barely one step into it, and a familiar dark hair, blue eyed, gold and black hat wearing teen was pushing into her shoulder.

"Hey!" She said, clearly not expecting to see him again so soon.

"Hey yourself. Forgot to ask you something." Ethan stood in front of her, an out of character serious look on his face.

"Shoot." She said, clueless. He seemed surprised at that.

"Redhead, harassment… ring a bell?"

"Oh GOD, don't remind me." She had seriously forgotten his harsh, storm cloud grey eyes, and his stupid smirk, and his lavender pants and- she was filling up with rage again. Crap. Just the mention of him made her stomach flip and her fingers twitch.

"What happened, anyways?" He said casually, staring at the ground. He didn't seem to notice her grinding her sneakers into the floor, thankfully.

"So, like- when I was picking up Eva from Elm, I was early- yeah I know, I'm an idiot sometimes- this GUY was standing outside his lab like a creeper. I tried to talk to him, and he shoves me away. Tells me "not to mess with him". Because being _nice_ is a crime now. So later, I'm walking back from 's house, and I see him again- he challenges me to a battle. _I kicked his ass_, by the way. He drops his trainer card- that's how I saw his name- and started freaking out and pushed me again. And then ran off. I-I- _hate_ that douche!" She hissed, a lot louder then she intended. "…sorry."

He didn't say a thing.

And then he laughed.

"I've never seen you that angry!" Direct eye contact for the next comment. "Understandably so, though."

"He's just… awful! Totally, completely, utterly awful. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon. Too bad he's got it out for me." Eyebrow raise from unusually quiet best friend. "I mean, he hates me as much as I hate him."

He shook his head. "Jeez, that's awful. Hope he'll stay out of your hair- or should I say, pigtails." He gave one of them a playful poke. She reluctantly smiled.

"…Thanks for giving me a person to rant to."

"No problem."

"Hey, you seem to be showing up every 5 minutes recently," Tamaki said playfully, "When am I seeing you next?"

"Probably not for a while." He smiled, apology clear on his face. She sighed.

"I should get going…got a date with the gym leader, and it's almost night time."

"Ah! Almost forgot, came here to give you this." Ethan dropped an electronic device into her hand.

"And this is?" She said, turning it over, looking at all the little buttons.

"A VS recorder."

"…. And what does it do?"

"No clue, sorry." She laughed and shook her head.

"You are no help. At all." She glanced up at a clock. "…uh oh. I think the sun just set. Gotta go!" And she was running off yet again.

* * *

Violet City was beautiful. In the disappearing twilight, little lamps were slowly flickering on around her. There were rows upon rows of houses, the typical center and mart (both painted a unique, somber color, as one of the people told her) allowing so much more activity then her plain old New Bark Town.

She was enjoying going house-to-house, making happy chitchat with young and old. She also learned that this guy was looking for a bellsprout- making a mental note to go back and pick one up later. After she beat the gym leader, at least. Apparently, he was flying type expert-, which Eva could take on just fine, types not being a variable at all.

Tamaki's plans, however, were quickly foiled by a man with an ugly mustache.

"You can't challenge Falkner yet!"

"Why not?" She said, hands on her hips.

"Because I say so. Now go to that big tower just north of here."

Barely into her pokemon journey, and shot down that easily. She could easily take him on! But noooo, you have to go to this stupid tower. She did, however, completely ignore his advice and headed south instead. Time to get a new teammate.

It took her 15 minutes of battling Woopers, Rattatas, Zubats, and Bellsprouts (which she caught two of- one to trade to that glasses kid, and another for her team..) until she heard the first bleat of an electric sheep.

She was in love.

With amazing, taught by Ethan skill and superb teamwork, she was looking at two new members of her team. Both boys. Both nameless.

She sat in the grass and stared at the sheep. It was bright yellow. The pokedex helpfully informed her that it was a mareep. And it was also the cutest thing she'd ever seen. To name something that was that cute was a challenge indeed. Eva, she didn't name herself, obviously, so it was rather difficult. She was trying to think of adjectives- Shock was stupid, Fluff sounded so generic.. Naming pokemon was hard work.

The pokemon seemed concerned at her puzzlement, and he rested his head on her knee. She gently, carefully began softly petting him, getting slight but not unpleasant shocks with each touch. Fluffy and shocking. But there was something else to him, he was also…

Floofy. He was floofy. And the name hit like a wrecking ball.

"Floof! I'll name you Floof!" Floof was delighted at his new name, bleating cheerfully. TAMAKI, WORLD'S GREAT POKEMON NICKNAMER, is what they would call her someday, she thought proudly to herself.

But then was her other newbie. She really didn't want to see it get even darker, so she just shrugged and wandered over to another trainer, who seemed to be trying to get an adorable sheep of her own.

"Hey!" She jumped. "Need a name for this." She pointed at the bellsprout, dancing around her feet.

The girl stared at her, and then beamed. "OOH! I know! … Lolipuncher!"

"…w-what?"

"L-O-L-I-P-U-N-C-H-E-R."

"…That is the weirdest name for a pokemon I've ever heard."

"…so." She replied, stubbornly, flicking her shoulder length brown hair.

"…touché." And the grass pokemon was named.

Going back into violet city, and exchanging her bellsprout with the ecstatic boy. She now had a new, not so shiny Onix. The name wasn't a problem, as he already proudly named him Rocky. So now she had 4 team members, and what was shaping up to be a male heavy team.

Tamaki was finally heading to Sprout tower, gingerly walking up the creaky stairs. Was it really almost 8? Christ, the day had gone so damn fast. She stared up at the stars, took a deep breath, and stepped into the ancient seeming tower.

* * *

So. Many. Old guys.

Seriously. They were everywhere. At least she could train her boys- Rocky, Lolipuncher, and Floof were all leveling up by the minute. She huffed up the stairs, groaning as another monk stormed towards her, demanding a battle, and wondered how many floors this freaking tower had. She was very glad she wasn't afraid of heights, after being told that it was over 100 feet tall. Damn. She was starting think she had seen a bellsprout for every foot she climbed, when she finally reached the top floor.

Now, she had to find the elder guy. Letting her team plow through the first old guy, asking him where he got his sweet ass owl (except, not in that language, as Tamaki was sure he wouldn't approve) she headed back out of the tower to go heal her lovely little team. In a few minutes, she was back, and taking on the other old man- which, was, of course, a snap.

She suddenly realized that there was someone else there. He had just finished battling the Elder, quite easily, apparently. He spun around, and then his facial expression matched hers.

God DAMNIT.

"What are you doing here?" Haruhi snapped at her.

"TRYING to battle the Elder, if you would _move_."

"Ha. Why waste your time? He's a weak old man, find a better way to train."

"Oh yeah? Then how about you volunteer yourself, HARUHI." He scowled at the name drop, and she motioned Floof to get ready to battle-

"No way."

"Wait, what?" She was excepting his competitive nature to have him jump on the challenge without a second thought. "Why not?"

"Oh yeah, a battle before I even got the chance to heal my pokemon. So fair. That is just like you." He scoffed.

"What? What the hell does that even- You don't even know my name!" She waved her arms in the air, as if to better convey her point.

"…" Ha, try to make a smart ass reply to THAT, jerkass. "…whatever, you're just an obstacle in my way. Just like the elder- you care too damn much about your pokemon, your stupid, weak pokemon… All I need is strong pokemon that win every time."

"Oh, say it to someone who cares. Get out of my face." She crossed her arms, waiting for him to push past her.

"Gladly." He pulled out a rope from his bag, and disappeared from infront of her eyes. …escape ropes. Tricky stuff.

She sighed deeply, trying to shake off the anger- and noticed all three trainers were staring at her. ..h-how many cusswords did she let fly, again?

"…Do you know him?" from the guy with a hoot-hoot.

"…Uh. Unfortunately." He chuckled.

"You two bicker like-"

"Please don't say 'old married couple." Tamaki groaned.

"… I was going for 'soul mates."

Her face, was a nice mix of anger and disgust. She marched off to the Elder, and stared at him as if DARING him to make a comment about her little spar with Haruhi.

He was kinda right. The elder was a challenge, and yet… still no problem for her. Huh. When the battle was over, he handed her TM70, and directed her over to a snazzy new escape rope of her own.

It was 23 past nine already, and there was no way she could challenge Falkner, and she stumbled over to the pokecenter to start her first night away from home.


	5. bird is the word

Thank you guys, for the lovely reviews! 333 Gabby-sama's giant review especially, hehe 3. Which brings me to another point- the eye color switch for 'Silver' was actually intentional. I just think grey suits him better, haha. (If you're wondering, I also changed 'Lyra's'-from brown to hazel.) Sooo here is another exciting chapter! ALMOST OUT OF SCHOOL YAY.

* * *

Tamaki woke up and saw the spotless white ceiling of the pokecenter way above her, so unlike her quaint little glow in the dark star covered ceiling at home. She yawned and stretched, her black tank top's strap falling off her shoulder. She kicked off the plain fuzzy white blanket and shook herself awake. Her hair was down, choppily lying around her shoulders, and she was feeling once again relieved that no boys were staying in the pokecenter over night. Boy shorts and a tank top. Not exactly the outfit she wanted to be caught in.

She dressed quickly and checked her pokegear. 6:15 sharp. Early bird gets the worm, after all.

Walking through Violet City right after the sun rises was beautiful. No one was around, and she and Floof just stared at the sky together, completely entranced. She pushed through the gym's doors, to see the man with the mustache from earlier grinning at her. She hesitated before smiling slowly back at him, and stepping onto the platform.

The floor abandoned her and she was rocketing upward. Her heart gave an unpleasant jolt and she'd be lying if she said she didn't stumble a little. She was way up high soon enough, and saw to her alarm that she was the only trainer there.

Her and Falkner, that is.

He grinned at her. "Morning. I always loved the trainers who woke up early to challenge me." Tamaki smiled and bowed her head a little. "It's my honor to challenge you, early or not."

Falkner laughed. "Impatient, aren't you?"

"A little."

"I assume you plan on battling me with that Mareep." She nodded. "People say you can clip a flying types wings with a jolt of electricity. I'll show you the real power of magnificent bird Pokemon!" He laughed again. "Go, Pidgey!"

An over dramatic knuckle crack and Tamaki was ready. "Floof! Thundershock!" Falkner winced as his pidgey was shot down in seconds. "Pidgeotto!"

"…Floof, use thundershock." Floof charged up… and aimed about 3 feet away from his Pidgeotto.

"OH COME ON, FLOOF! GO IN FOR THE KILL!" Floof bleated unhappily, not liking the volume of her voice.

"HA! I told you bird pokemon were awesome!"

"…what? That was because my sheep has a heart of gold!"

"….so?" He said. Tamaki groaned. His pidgeotto determinedly tackled the other pokemon. "You aren't going to just take that, are you, Floof? Thundershock! Now!" Floof shook, charging itself up, and aimed. A critical hit!

Tamaki stared at the bird, lying on the ground, and the gym leader moodily returning it to its pokeball. She dropped to her knees next to her pokemon, and hugged it happily. "We did it! Yesss!"

"Take your badge." Falkner sighed, flicking it at her where it just nearly slid off the platform. She saved it just in time, placing it into her badge case.

"Thank you SO much, Falkner! That was awesome!" She gushed excitedly, picking a happy Floof off the ground. He sighed. "Good battle, blabla, good luck with the next 7 gyms. And have this. It's roost." He handed it over to her. She nodded, beamed, and ran as carefully as she could to the moving platform, bouncing with happiness. Her first badge!

She continued bouncing outside where she admire the bright sun and wished Ethan would suddenly pop out behind a building as usual. She glanced around and stopped. Should she..? Oh, screw it.

"…Ethan? … you… there? Okay. I sound stupid now.." She blinked. The victory was getting to her head. There was nothing left to do in Violet City now, so it was onto the next city. Ha, what if she got two badges in one day? That would be awesome. Her excited thoughts were quickly interrupted by the shrill loud blast of her Pokegear. She picked it up, and heard the now familiar voice of Elm, telling her to go to the nearest pokemart. Alrighty then. She sped off to the pokemart happily.

"Huh. Hey… egg. I guess I can't name you until you hatch. … so. I guess. You're eggy right now. Or something." She held it in front of her as she walked, Loli Puncher dancing on the cobblestones behind her. Infact, if it wasn't for her tall hair, she would have never noticed the young woman in red approaching her. She was wearing a kimono and she gracefully maneuvered around the cobblestones, as if she was flying.

"Me oh my.." Tamaki repressed a giggle at her old fashioned speak. "That egg must be-"

"From Professor Elm. Dunno what it is, sorry." She nodded deeply, as if bowing. Tamaki noticed her hair was a wig- little strands of light brown were almost completely hidden, only visible in the bright sun.

"That is a very important egg. Please take care of it. I'm counting on you." She smiled, her teeth perfect and pearl white. Tamaki felt as if she should bow, and she attempted to, rather clumsily. The woman gave a short giggle, and turned full circle before gliding off southbound.

A curious person, indeed. Tamaki checked her map, and then walked through the entrance to the route.

* * *

Being a pokemon trainer could be amazingly dull, she sighed, as she wiped her forehead and started off towards the closest pokemon center. On the plus, her adorable little cyndaquil was an adorable not so little quilava. She kept turning around and beaming at her, incredibly proud of her starter and wanting to celebrate. She really wished she had some spare cash to buy some sort of treat for her. Alas, she barely had enough money for pokeballs and potions. Bleh.

Tamaki healed her pokemon and craftily dodged the blonde trainer lounging around. She glanced around, and realized she had hit a dead end. All there was a large cave. A… creepy looking cave, eek. She spun around, took a deep breath, and walked inside.

Eva was an excellent night-light, letting her see at least five feet farther then she normally would. She stumbled around, finding trainers, rocks, and… random bodies of water. Minutes ticked by and she was beginning to wonder if…

No way. She was fine, she thought, shaking her head stubbornly and plowing through the tiny little paths. Of course, there was the unfortunate realization that she had stopped encountering trainers lately.

Shit. She was lost.

She groaned. How big could cave even be? She leaned against the cold, cold wall, glancing around and trying to find some sort of secret path. Was everyone in this cave lost too? Jesus, these people had to be twice her age and they couldn't even use a map-

Ha! She grabbed her pokegear off her bag, and tapped onto the map feature. "Gps, gps, gps…" she muttered happily, tapping the screen with her finger. "Go left." She gazed to her left. A wall. A very plain wall, at that.

She didn't like her pokegear much after that.

Eva was beginning to get worried. And pace quickly back and force. …Was her pokemon claustrophobic? Oh dear. She sighed and apologized quietly. "Um. Working on it, sorry."

Forty-nine minutes. She had been in this stupid, damned cave for _forty-nine_ minutes. And it was getting cold, too. Stupid draft. … wait. Caves didn't get drafts, because there was no wind. She grinned, her smile threatening to swallow her face, as she ran steadily towards the little prin pick of light in front of her. She was about ready to collapse on the grass and take a catnap in the soft warm sun.

She shot through the exit, embracing the sun with every ounce of herse-

The pouring rain immediately attacked her hat. Eva jumped at the water, and Tamaki suddenly realized her pokemon had never seen rain before. "Ahh, I'm sorry Eva-" she sighed, as she replaced her walking partner with a pokemon who could handle the rain better.

She loved the rain, but it was cold. Reaaally cold. She winced as the rain pattered against her wrists, wishing she had remembered to stuff an umbrella into her bag- a nice fold up one, or something. Lolipuncher however, was happily embracing the rain, and she smiled softly at his little dance. According to her pokegear though, all she had to do was walk a little while and she'd be in town. Thank god.

One battle with a hiker with the typical geodude and she was free from the rain. But not from the cold, unfortunately. Auuugh. She ran through the town's entrance, looking for the pokecenter (which always had a convient little heater running) and stumbled to a halt.

Some guy in a black outfit was arguing with an old man. He ran off soon enough, looking worried and scared. Her moral compass screaming, she stomped in front of the pink haired guy.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing to see here, citizen! Just a totally unsafe well. That you can't go into. Because it's unsafe. I'm… guarding it. Because I am. Uh. Protecting you, from it. … and it's. unsafety. Yeah. …you can go now."

Tamaki blinked. He pressed his lips together as if he was showing his absolute refusal to say another word. Shaking her head, she stumbled off into the inner part of the town, knowing she'd need to get to the bottom of this later.


	6. rocket man!

LAAAAATEE I am a fail sorry.

* * *

Her hair was dripping onto the ground, as she snuggled into the plain tan blanket, trying to warm up. She hoped Ethan was okay- the rain had began pouring again.

Haruhi had probably stolen some kids umbrella, she mused as she untied her elastic bands and shook out her pigtails. She smirked, imagining him with a cute little umbrella with duckies on it. It worked to distract her from the annoying responsibility she knew she had to follow up on pretty soon. That pink haired dude really looked suspicious, and she might have been the only one who saw- oh crap, what if he was harassing more people?

She glanced up as several people, just a tad older then her, shuffled into the door, soaking and sneezing. Nurse Joy's Blissey tsked and headed towards them, several folded towels in hand. She sighed and pulled her pigtails tight, standing up. "Off we go again, Lolipuncher." Her pokemon stared back at her. "I need to save people, okay? Ssh." She strode towards the door, holding her bag a few inches above her head, and ran out.

COLD. COLD. VERY COLD. She shivered as the air blasted at her and found herself making an unconscious beeline to the first house she saw. Oh, so much for being brave, Tamaki. She shivered against the door, wondering if she should just pop over to the gym now- bug type, wasn't that what that trainer said? Should be easy enough. And warm.. bugs like warm, right? When she suddenly heard a blaring voice from inside the house.

"Stop shivering and just invite yourself in!" She jumped, and turned, slowly, towards the door, opening it and immediately feeling the warm of a hot burning fireplace. Two people, an older man and a young brunette girl were staring at her. She paused. "Um."

"Who are you?" He demanded, raising one untrimmed grey eyebrow at her.

"Uh. Tamaki, New Barktown."

"Well, Uh-Tamaki, you're coming with me to save this town's ass." Without letting her protest, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door.

"You know Team Rocket?" he asked, as they walked off his yard.

"Um, vaguely."

"Team Rocket's an evil gang that uses Pokemon for their dirty work. They're supposed to of disbanded three years ago." She nodded at him, interested. "they've been mutilated the local pokemon," Tamaki winced in sympathy. "So I'm going to give them a lesson in pain!" He walked close to the gym and Tamaki noticed another Rocket member hiding from the blur of rain.

"Why are you making me your sidekick, anyways?" She said, ringing her pigtails out, the water dripping onto her shoulders… therefore, doing absolutely nothing. She sighed. Rain sucked.

"I was waiting for a trainer to come by here. There was another one, earlier, but he wouldn't even listen to me." The man said gruffly, staring at the rockets around the town.

"…I would seriously bet all the money I have on said boy being a redhead."

"You got something against gingers?" the old man laughed. She paused, considering it. "Probably."

The old man gave her a serious look.

"….just kidding?" He shook his head. He was probably a redhead when he was younger, Tamaki decided with a sigh. Maybe they all hated her on instinct. The Azeala-town native was already mysterious on his own, she wasn't going to push her opinions on hair pigments on him.

Kurt (as his mailbox informed her) was a Pokeball maker, but he seemed to have the idea he would make an excellent cop. He continued dragging her by the wrist to the well, and seemed content that the boy from earlier had abandoned his perch. "Wait here." He commanded gruffly, and he slowly walked down the slopes to the well.

He was a lot more interesting then the other old guys she had met, atleast. She wished there was a nice big tree she could stand under. She was soaked. She felt like she had jumped into a pool, and then absorbed the water like a lame, orange not-towel. She sneezed, and suddenly heard a painful groan echoing from the well.

That's… not good.

Without thinking, she ran down the slope as fast as she could. She stopped at the well, climbing down the ladder slowly and carefully. At the bottom of the well, Kurt lay, conscious but not happy.

"Hey there, Tamaki." He said casually, giving her a tiny wave. She circled him worriedly, lifting him onto his feet. He arched, trying to move his weight from his back, wincing from pain.

"I took a bit of a spill." He shrugged. He winced at the effort. "Tamaki!" She stood up straight suddenly, feeling as if she was being addressed by a drill sergeant. "Show them how gutsy you are in my place!" She nodded so strongly her hat almost went flying off. "Yessir." She resisted the urge to salute him, and with one short glance over her shoulder, went running off through the well.

Tamaki plowed through several rather aggressive rockets with Floof, who was horror stricken at the poor slowpokes. She glanced around the small underground area. Huh. No one left, except a bored looking man with aqua blue hair. She marched up to him. .

"Hey there."

"What do we have here?" He said, observing her rather critically. The soaked clothes didn't really help her image.

"I am often labeled the toughest and scariest guy in team rocket!" Tamaki stared blankly at him. "I strongly urge you not to interfere with our business."

"Too bad." Tamaki said, with a well-timed knuckle crack. The executive sighed.

"Do you really have to play the tough girl act?"

"…maybe." He rolled his eyes.

"Who are you, anyways?" She inquired, liking to know the names of the people whose asses she kicked.

"Proton." He said, with a gross-older-guy-smirk.

"Like the science thingy?"

"…yes, like the science thingy." She nodded, feeling accomplished.

"So, like, is there a Neutron, or an Electron?" Time wasting was fun, she decided with a hidden smirk.

"…wha- Ughh, do you know how many times I've heard that stupid joke? It gets old, you know!"

"Are you a few protons short of an atom—"

"That's it! No more stupid science jokes!" He scowled at her, blue eyebrows angrily pointing towards his nose. He grabbed a pokeball from around his waist and clicked the button.

Floof took down his zubat and koffing without breaking a sweat. Well… she didn't really know if mareeps COULD sweat, but still. The executive shot a cold glare at her. She was just wondering if Kurt was okay. He muttered something about Team Rocket coming back, threatened her, and then poofed with a smoke ball that made her lungs cry.

Kurt walked towards her, limping but still quick.

"Way to go, Tamaki! Team Rocket's taken off. My back's better, too. Lets get out of here."

"…to your warm, cozy house, right?" He laughed. "The rain's stopped, y'know." Tamaki sighed happily.

Ten minutes and two hot chocolates later, Tamaki was sitting on the hardwood floor of Kurt's house, a fluffy towel wrapped around her shoulders.

'Thank you again, Tamaki. Stupid rockets, always causing trouble." He scowled into his own chocolatley drink.

"Mhmmmm." She said absently mindingly. She wondered if Kurt would care if she passed out on his floor. Probably.

He seemed to have sensed her plan. "Don't you have a gym leader to challenge?"

"I already got a badge today!" She protested. Kurt glared at her like a disapproving grandfather. Tamaki stood up with a grumble and placed the mug on a nearby coffee table.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate." She said, picking up her bag.

"Thanks for kicking those Rockets' asses." She smiled slightly. "Here." He grabbed a plain black pokegear off a table. "Lemme get your number."

"So I can alert you when rockets are being out of place and we can slap them down like the angry fist of god?"

He grinned. "Smart girl."

The bug gym was amazing. Tamaki stared at the giant space for what seemed like hours, absorbing the colors everywhere, the golden hues and reds. She was never a bug type fan, but the gym was almost convincing. She shook her head, and smiled at Eva. "Easy peasy, right?" She walked over to the first platform and took a deep breath.


	7. we call it Bella Notte

I apologize again for the lateness. Blame a certain other author who decided to go on a random ass vacation.. anyways, the next chapter will be a lot faster. Happy Fourth!

* * *

Wobbling unsteadily on the moving platform, Tamaki glanced through the gym. Gym leaders reaaally liked putting their challengers in danger, didn't they? The short trip was over and she hopped off to battle a young trainer.

Tamaki felt a little guilty, she decided, after she pummeled some twins with her fire type. She was getting very lucky with the gym types, and… okay, it was going to her head. Just a little.

Nonetheless, she kept her ego low on the outside and thanked the pouting little girls for the battle. If the pattern kept up- with its weird little blue and orange strings- she should be at the gym leader next.

…or not. 15 minutes later, she was still beating up kids ('s pokemon) and growing antsy. She had already had to go heal Eva. Twice. Maybe the leader tried to get trainers so annoyed, they'd just turn around and go home.

Not her! She thought, determination painted on her face as she stepped onto platform movers again, slowly floating through the gym, stopping at a purple haired- girl? Boy? With a superior air about…him? Her? It?

"HA. Take THAT." She declared to no one in particular. The gym leader frowned at her. She smiled at…it, and it looked back somewhat uncertainly in return.

"…I'm Bugsy." Bugsy said, with a mellow, young teenage boy- aha! Male! - voice. "I never lose when it comes to Bug-type Pokemon. My research is going to make me the authority on bug type Pokemon! Let me demonstrate what I can do!" He announced, gaining confidence in his speech as he went.

…aww, she was going to feel almost guilty about burning his hopes and dreams into the ground. … oh well.

Fire types, like a Quilava, make bug type pokemon very, very, very, verrry easy to beat. Despite this, though, Tamaki realized he really was a good trainer. And was impressed. But… still, burn them to hell and all that.

And his Scyther was cool.

The battle was over in maybe about 10 to 15 minutes, and after, the gym leader sighed and fluffed his lavender hair softly. "Whoa, you're.. kind of amazing." He said, glancing at the ground, blushing slightly. "..Ahem, you're an expert on pokemon. My research isn't complete yet. You win." He reached into a pocket and held out a shiny, bright little badge, dropping it into Tamaki's cupped hands, who took it with a proud smile.

"Do you know the benefits of the hive badge?" She shook her head, pigtails wobbling on either side.

"If you have it, pokemon up to lv.30 obey you, even in trades."

"Sweet! …wait, they didn't already?"

His brows clashed together. "…uh, no?"

"Oh. Okay, then. Go on." She said, staring deeply at him. He continued, unnerved.

"…uh, pokemon who know Cut will be able to use it outside of battle." He paused again, as if waiting for interruption. "…. And, um, here. Have this." She held out her hands again and he handed her a TM.

"That's TM89. It's U-Turn. It let's your pokemon attack an- are you listening?"

"Oh. Yep." She said, twisting her eyes away from the trees next to him.

"..and then switch with the next Pokemon in your party." Bugsy finished quickly. "Isn't that great?"

"Mhmm. Well, thank you for the battle-" she grinned sincerely-"But I have to get going."

"Of course. Thank you as well.." He said, as she turned and ran for the spider platforms.

* * *

Tamaki yawned, stretched out on a cot in the trainer section of the poke center. After healing her pokemon, she had opted for a catnap. Apparently a catnap that was much longer then she thought it was, seeing as she saw quite a few trainers snoozing around her. She flicked open one of the pockets of her bag and checked her pokegear.

_Eight o'clock? _How the hell did she sleep for seven hours? I mean, yeah, sure she didn't get the best night's sleep the day before, but… seven hours? Damn! The nurse probably thought she was dead!

And now conflict kicked in. There was no way she could sleep tonight. …Which meant she'd have to go to the next town _right now_. In the dark. Where it was creepy! She placed her head in her hands and sighed. Oh, naps. How you ruin people's lives.

Putting her shoes back on and trying to fix her crumpled clothes (her hat safe, being perched on the ground next to her bag) she swung her legs out from the bed and stretched. It was going to be a looong, creepy night.

The town wasn't dead yet, but it was definitely on life support, she mused as she walked out the glass doors of the pokemon center. She glanced around at the few people milling around as she walked to the town's gate. She was almost at the steps, when Eva paused, twitching as if she had heard something.

"What's up, Eva?" The fire pokemon's fur bristled in answer. She turned, talking quietly in a voice just for her starter to hear.

"What, is there a creep… oh god, no. No. No. No." She clumsily jumped up the stairs, trying to be fast; she could run well when she tried, she could totally-

"… Tell me something." She found her arm locked in a tight grip. God damn it. She flexed angrily, breaking his stupid fingers away from her elbow. Turning again to face him, she glared harshly at Haruhi, who had managed to find her (Stalker.) again.

He did not seem effected at all by this attitude, unfortunately. Infact, he seemed… sort of amused. Ass.

"Is it true that Team Rocket has returned?" he asked, in a forced casual tone.

"Why do you care? Thinking of joining them?" He glared angrily at her, and she glared back. It went on like this for a couple minutes until she remembered how to speak instead of stare.

"Anyways, yeah. I kicked their ass." She said, smugly. He turned her into such an angry, ugly person, she mused. It was horrific and intriguing at the same time.

"What?" Haruhi seemed completely and totally shocked. If he were a normal person, maybe he would have been impressed. But no. No, she had to deal with the biggest asshole known to teenager kind. If she were a normal person, maybe she wouldn't have hated him so much.

He took a few seconds to recover, and he shook his head, his bangs messily covering his forehead. Then, a curious thing happened. He smiled.

"Hah!" Tamaki frowned. Had he snapped, or did he know something she didn't? Either was not a fun idea.

"Quit lying." She opened her mouth in protest.

"I am _no_-"

"Are you serious?" He scoffed at her, turning his head to glare down at her. It wasn't a huge height difference, but it… still was an advantage for him, ugh.

"Stop asking stupid questions and battle me." She said, darkly, staring at his cold grey eyes, judging her, as always.

"Fine. Then lets see how 'good'-" she heard his voice mock her clearly-"you are."

In the day since she had seen him- and the two since they had battled- he had clearly been training hard. And had two new pokemon to boot. He started by sending out a Gastly- ooh, dark and edgy, just like him! Ha. Ha. But Eva's level difference made that an easy defeat. He gritted his teeth and picked his next one, a zubat. She switched to Floof casually, noticing a flicker of recognition on his face as she sent it out.

Again, the pokemon went down easily. She waited patiently, one hand on her hip; the other perched in a thoughtful pose on her cheek, for him to send out his stolen starter. As he did, she noticed it had evolved in the time since she had last seen it. It was still as girly as ever, though, if not more. Considerably less cute, though.

Eva served her well, shooting down the grass type with one excellently executed move. And the grass type fell. Haruhi looked at it bitterly, as if he was deciding whether or not to kick it as it moaned sadly. Sadness- and guilt- hit her. She'd rescue it. Someday. She had to.

"…Sooo~ what was that you said about me being good?" She smiled, flicking her wrist.

"Listen, you-" she smiled brighter, loving her anon status, "won only because my Pokemon are weak."

"Wait a second. They're only weak because of you- if you trained them properly-" She ranted at him, leaning her arms pointed behind her.

"Be quiet!" he commanded, and she only paused her angry rant out of curiosity for what he'd say next.

"I hate the weak." He hissed, glaring at his shoes. "Pokemon… trainers…" he said the word as if it was something filthy and unworthy of him. "It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around." She looked at him, curiosity outweighing anger. Why was he suddenly opening up to her?

"That goes for Team Rocket, too." He looked away, and the silence drifted by uncomfortably.

There was a depth to his words she was scared, and, admittedly, intrigued by. The thought that Haruhi was more then an angry, jerkish freak was something Tamaki had not really thought about.

"I hate them all." He said, and she saw his jaw clench. She paused. Stupid decision coming up in three, two, one..

"…Haruhi?" She said, softly.

"You stay out of my way!" He turned to her, and she stepped back. "You won't be an exception if you get in my way!"

"…so I'm an exception right now, then?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "What is _with_ you?"

"Nothing! What's with _you_?" She protested, hands on her hips.

"You are so damn annoying. There is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with me that _isn't your fault_!" Haruhi yelled, clenching his fits.

"Oh REALLY?" She said, ignoring the cold remark. "Blah, bla bla, team rocket bla! Blah blah, I hate them all!" Tamaki mocked. "That's a little far, to me!"

"You don't understand at all, and you're trying to make judgments on my life? What gives you the right?"

"The RIGHT? Oh, sure, you march into my life uninvited and make it a living hell, but _I _can't judge you at all?" They were screaming at each other now, ignorant to the world around them.

"And anyways!" Tamaki said, starting up again. "I am SO sick of you- you stupid, stupid, JERKASS!" She shut her eyes and screamed at him, so she never saw his reaction, but she hoped it was shocked.

Unfortunately, she had yelled a little too loud.

"TAMAKI!" She froze. Haruhi glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. Kurt came marching out of his house, clad in pajamas and a foul mood.

"Why the HELL are you and your boyfriend in a screaming match at this ungodly hour?"

"_Boyfriend_?" Haruhi said, very, very quietly. She couldn't see his expression.

"…or girlfriend, I can't tell." He shrugged. Tamaki's frozen shock melted at Kurt's (assumedly) attempt at humor.

"He is not my boyfriend!" She yelled, face bright red from a dangerous combination of anger and… insanely huge, horrible embarrassment.

"Fine! I don't care, as long as you two are quiet! Old men are trying to sleep here!" He gave the two individual glares and then he stomped back to his house.

Tamaki, trying to regain her footing on earth, glanced at Haruhi. He was seething, his face turned away from her.

She paused for a second, shaking her head wildly as that would help her make sense of the.. absolute chaos that had just gone one, and stepped up the stairs into the route transition.

Once there, she stopped, her face still burning and her heart pounding loudly. Well, shit, she thought. Now he knew her name.


	8. remember when we were right?

Annnd another chapter. Not late this time! I'm so proud. Anyways, would any of you guys be interested in a Haruhi pov fic? Just say so! :D

* * *

Heart still hammering, she stepped into Ilex Forest and shuddered. She turned back to the door. Maybe she could suck it up and wait to go into the Forest tomorrow morning.

…then again, there was a high chance she'd find a redhead waiting for her on the other side of that route pass.

… No way. She shook her head stubbornly and starting stomping through the trees. This went on for a few minutes, and she found herself wishing she had picked up a map.. . she stopped, sighing, and leaned on a tree.

"Hey!" came a voice out of FREAKIN' NOWHERE.

Tamaki screamed, as people are opt to do when they think they are alone in a creepy forest. A young man with glasses came walking out behind a tree.

"I'm sorry for startling you-"

"You better be!" Tamaki snapped, hand over her heart.

"…Very sorry. I was just going to ask… well, I had some Farfetch'd here with me to cut wood. But they went running off into the forest. My boss is going to be so angry… Could you help me?"

She paused, looking at him. "… Yeah, I guess I can." She shrugged. "Any advice for catching them?"

"They have very sensitive ears. If you step on a branch, they'll face that direction. Then, you can sneak up behind them."

Tamaki nodded, stretching out her arms. "Okay then. Be back soon."

* * *

It was a lot harder then she thought it would be. It had taken her over half an hour to catch the two of them, but finally she was walking back to the spectacled man, holding a brown bird in each hand.

"Oh, thank you so much!" He gushed. She smiled. She liked helping people. Maybe because it was a total ego boost. She gently put the pokemon on the ground next to him. He grinned at her appreciatively.

"Here! Take this, as thanks." He said, handing her a disc somewhat like a TM, but… shinier.

"That's the HM cut. You can teach a pokemon it, and they'll be to clear small trees!"

"Seriously? Awesome! Thank you so much!" She was already picking a pokeball from her waist. "New move for youuu, Lolipuncher!" Lolipuncher danced happily on the forest floor as she gave him the new technique. The two of them strode over to a close tree, and Lolipuncher cut the tree down easily. She waved goodbye to the man with his pokemon, and continued through the forest.

Tamaki found herself standing at a small shrine. The air felt still, and a shiver ran through her back. It was so… eerie, and entrancing. She backed away from it, shaking her head. She and lolipuncher were wandering around the forest feeling completely blind, and the eerie feeling would not go away.

It was as if time passed differently there. She had only been in there for, what, an hour? And yet she felt as if she had been lost in the forest all day. It was seriously creeping her out. She and her grass type continued navigating the forest quietly, until she stopped cold, recognizing the familiar sight of a woman in a red kimono.

The woman turned to her, eyes brightening as she saw Tamaki. She tottered, a little more elegant this time, over to her. She rose a hand to her red lips, staring off into the night sky dramatically.

"Kimono girl, kimono girl, lost and alone. Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex Forest." She turned around, her arms out, and then rested her hand on her cheek.

"…uh, I know you from Violet city, right?" She frowned, turning her head to one side.

"You must be imagining." She said with a coy smile. "Will you show me how to get out of this forest?"

"Um, sure." …even though she was lost herself.

"You will? But aren't you lost in the forest as well?" Tamaki blinked, feeling confused.

"…uh, touché."

"How do you know how to get out of here?" Tamaki paused, lost for an answer.

"Uhhhh…" Suddenly, her bellsprout began sprinting away from her, pausing to turn and wait for the kimono girl. She gasped.

"Are you showing me how to get out? You are such a smart pokemon!" She smiled, and went running off into the direction lolipuncher directed.

"Wow, LP. Didn't know you had it in you." She shrugged and began following her pokemon herself.

* * *

It was nice, being able to see the moon again. She blinked, looking across the lonely route around her. She wobbled, feeling tired again. _Oh C'mon Tamaki, you need to get to the next town, tonight._ But she was so tired… she dropped to the ground, leaning against a tree. Why was she so tired, anyways? ..just going to rest, she reminded herself. For a couple minutes. Close her eyes, for a little while…

Her thoughts were hazy, of bellsprouts and girls in kimonos, and boys she would never, ever date..

"Can't believe you fell asleep in the middle of the route.." Tamaki was dimly aware she was waking up. Wait, huh? When did she go to bed…?

She opened her eyes to see familiar dark blue eyes with black lashes gazing kindly back at her.

"Ethan!" She squealed, flinging her arms around his neck without thinking. He laughed, sound uncomfortable. Reluctantly she released her grip, letting her arms flop to her sides. She was still leaning against the tree, and he sat beside her, smiling as usual. At his own side, his marril sat, as hyper as ever.

"What time is it..?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"About eight. I guess you passed out here late last night." He stood up, holding a hand out to her. She took it, standing up next to him, trying to fix her clothes.

"Remind me never to do that again…" She muttered, yawning. He laughed, and they walked together along the route.

"Why are you here..?" Tamaki asked, not really expecting a solid answer.

"Visiting my grandparents."

"Ahh… wait, your grandparents live around here? Why didn't you tell me before?" She exclaimed.

"Never came up." He shrugged casually. "There!" He sped up, waving. "Hey, grandpa!"

The old man smiled at him softly. "This is Tamaki." He said, gesturing towards the girl a few feet away from them. She gave a small wave.

"Nice to meet you!" He had a deep, kind voice, perfect for a grandfather. She wished that she knew her grandparents better. She walked over to him, and he held out his hand. She shook it, smiling at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan watching carefully. Was he nervous that they wouldn't like her, or something…?

"You should meet my grandmother, too." He said, smiling again. "C'mon." He led her into the small house with a red roof next to them. Curious, she followed him.

The room was small, with a pc and a counter, a kindly old woman standing behind it. The other half was a small grassy pen, which she assumed was for pokemon. She stared at it, curious.

Ethan's marril bounced around the room happily, and Ethan strode up to the woman.

"Hey, grandma! I finally caught her." Tamaki laughed, enjoying his familiar stupid jokes. "Finally, you two get to meet. This, of course, is Tamaki-"

"Ah," said his grandmother, smiling. "This is your girl…friend." Tamaki resisted the urge to facepalm. They had been friends for a long time, so of course people had assumed… that, but it didn't make it any less stupid. It was weird, though, that his grandmother of all people was assuming… she mused quietly. She looked up to see if Ethan was annoyed as she was.

She had never, ever, ever, _ever_ seen her best friend blush before. He was always so laid back and in control, it was hard to find situations where he was ever thrown off by anything. Whenever someone made a comment about the two of them, he'd always roll his eyes and shake it off, grabbing her by the arm and leading her away, as to say "Yeah, well, I don't really give a shit what you think." Except with less cuss words.

Instead, there he was, ears bright red, running his fingers through the ends of his straight, ink black hair, messy as usual. She gaped at him openly; feeling like she should of brought a camera. Damn. He must really care about his grandma's opinion. That, or maybe he had an actual girlfriend..? She hid a smile at the thought. He would have told her. For sure.

Seeming to finally find words, he tripped on them awkwardly. "Wh-what? No! We're just friends. Seriously." He gritted his teeth and turned to Tamaki as if looking for confirmation. At this cue, she nodded deeply.

Ethan's grandmother just laughed. "I know, I know. Well, if you need us to raise any of your pokemon, Tamaki, we'd be happy to help." She nodded. Sounded good to her.

"I've got to go." Ethan muttered dismissively, turning away from them. Tamaki felt her heart drop. Already…?

As if reading her mind, (or emotions) Ethan stopped, standing next to her.

"… Of course, I need to register you in my pokegear first." He gave her a small smile.

"…. I can not BELIEVE I have not thought of that already." She replied, awestruck. He laughed, taking her pokegear from her hands after she retrieved it from one of her bag's many yellow pockets. He tapped in his number quietly, and then switched to his own to type in hers.

"There."

"You better call. Mom calls me practically 8 times a day, but just talking to her gets boring. Fast." She joked.

"I'll call every hour if I have to." He said, smiling warmly at her. He turned away suddenly, ears turning pink again. "Grandma! Don't say anything. We are both trainers. And we are supposed to exchange numbers. That's all!" The old woman just smiled. He turned, bangs hiding his facial expression.

"See you later, then." He paused at the edge of the doorway.

"…See ya." And with that, he was gone. Again. She shook her head, wondering why he was so off today. Maybe she should confront him about that girlfriend thing..?

Walking out the door, she saw his grandfather approach her. He gave her his pokegear number, smiled at her, and bid her adieu.

Tamaki was so very close to Goldenrod city when the egg exploded.


	9. bicycle! bicycle! bicycle!

Early chapter because I will be busy tomorrow and Wednesday~ Thanks again for the reviews! Except a new fic from me soon. ;D

* * *

Tamaki panicked. She had forgotten she even had the egg with her, used to it casually peaking out of her bag, safe but unnoticed. Now, jagged, crooked cracks rippled across the spotted surface, and she carefully lifted the egg out of her bag, large fragments falling to the ground beside her. It shook strongly in her hands, and she held it carefully.

Within a couple minutes, enough of the shell was off for her to see a small pokemon with a pointy-head encaptured there, pushing its way out. She watched, amazed, as it pushed the last of the pieces out of it's way. It looked at her, curious and happy.

"Piii~"

Still holding the pokemon carefully, she unfastened her pokedex from the side of her bag, pointing it towards the pokemon. "Togepi. Female." Tamaki looked at the togepi, incredulous. It hatched….? She'd have to take it to Elm soon, as he instructed, but for now… she petted its head gingerly, and it cooed.

"Rena." Tamaki announced, with a small smile.

After cleaning up the eggshells and putting Rena into her own pokeball, she continued stomping off to Goldenrod. Finally, she approached a giant arch. She took her first step into the city, her eyes shut. She opened them, and gasped.

It was beautiful. Large buildings scraped the sky, people milling around everywhere. It was a city, a true city, different from the muffled quaintness of Violet. Tamaki fell in love with it immediately.

She and Floof wandered through the city, gazing curiously at each new building and the high lampposts. On Floof's excited bleating, Tamaki stumbled into a tall store. The familiar deliveryman greeted her and handed her yet another package, and after she and Floof spent at least and hour running up the stairs excitedly, glancing amazed at each floor of the building, just to run out of energy and being forced to take the elevator.

Tamaki was completely aware of the fact she must have looked like a crazed, hyper tourist, but she honestly didn't care. Goldenrod was _awesome_. To be honest, she was a tad disappointed as the reached the very top floor, sighing as she punched in the numbers in a vending machine for a drink to quench her thirst.

She rolled the bottle of lemonade across her forehead, enjoying the coolness, and thought deeply. There was another gym in this town, her third. Normally she'd just go straight to that and leave for the next destination, but this city called to her. "Tamaki! Tamaki! I am _awesome. _ You have to stay. Like, forever."

Floof skipped on the floor happily as she leaned back in a chair, sipping her lemonade and thinking. All right, she'd beat the gym leader, stay the night, and then force herself out of the city. … And avoid the temptation to come back every day. She could totally manage this.

Tamaki capped the bottle and pushed it into her bag, gesturing Floof to get up. He was currently rolling around happily on the floor, and she smiled, shaking her head. So damn cute. They exited the department store, walking over to another, much smaller store across the street.

Inside it, bicycles surrounded her everywhere. On the walls, to the right of her, the left, north, and south… she turned, trying to look at all of them.

"Wooooah." She gushed. The balding man smiled at her.

"I know, huh? I opened a branch here, but they just won't sell…" he sighed, leaning on a green counter, deep in thought. She frowned. What was _wrong _with kids these days? When she was eight, she was deeply considering selling Ethan into slavery in exchange for a bike. Unfortunately, neither of their mothers would allow that, and Ethan pointed out then she'd be all alone if she did that. Yeah, but at least she'd have a bike. And plus, he wasn't one to talk. He had a sweet ass bike. Ugh.

While Tamaki drowned in nostalgia, the man's head suddenly shot up. "I've got it! Could you ride a bicycle and advertise for me?"

The teenager turned to him, shocked. "W-what?"

"Could you ride a bicycle for me?" He repeated patiently.

"No, no, I heard you. I'm just- r-really?" Excitement pulled her voice into an almost hard to understand high pitch. He laughed, nodding.

"I would be delighted to, !" She squeaked. He laughed harder.

"Alright then, it's a deal." He gave her his name, and they exchanged phone numbers. She skipped out of the store, so happy she felt like she was going to explode.

Best.

City.

_Ever._

Tamaki let Floof back into his pokeball and spent 20 minutes just chasing shadows through the city, speeding through and laughing manically. She was pretty sure customers flocked to the man's store just for that, wondering why the hell his bike could make a girl so damn happy. Eventually she stepped off the bike, collapsing it and cramming it into her yellow bag. Somehow.

Next on the Big City Adventure was the train station. The train wasn't around. Lame. Next, she visited a strange purple tent with a man who claimed he could change pokemon's names. She stopped, considering, and then asked to help her rename Rocky. He refused. Fraud.

She was racing over to a flower shop when she saw a woman standing in front of the gym's doors. Frowning, she approached her.

"Whitney's s'not here." She said, chewing loudly on some bright pink gum, flicking her chestnut brown hair over her shoulder. "Came flyin' by here, all like "I have to get a Radio Card, ohmigawd!" So yeah." Her grey-blue eyes glanced at her passively. Tamaki shrugged.

"Think she'll be back soon?"

"Totes."

"…wha?"

"Totally." She said, rolling her eyes.

"…ahh." She shook her head and continued to the flower shop, where she found a couple young women who happily handed her a watering can modeled after a pokemon she didn't recognize. She wondered out of the store, wondering if everyone got so much free stuff when they went to Goldenrod.

…hmmmm. A radio card, huh? That must be from the big pointy building, she deduced. She walked over there next, stopping cold when she saw a team rocket grunt standing outside the building, hands in his pockets.

Tamaki glared at him as she walked up, stomping through the door backwards as to not lose eye contract. The young man shuddered, unnerved. She shook her head disapprovingly, and then turned around in the building as a young woman sitting at a desk chirped her a welcome.

"Welcome to the Goldenrod Radio Tower!' She smiled sweetly, and Tamaki returned it. Everyone is so damn nice here, she thought, grinning and talking to the other woman at the desk. At the far end, the last attendant was already talking to someone. Tamaki stopped, curious.

"…that's not it? Oh no." A teenage girl- maybe a couple years older then her, sighed, pushed her cotton candy pink bangs away from her eyes. Spotting Tamaki, she instantly brightened and bounced over to her.

"Hi! My name is Whitney!" She grinned cheerfully, pigtails bouncing. "I'm trying to beat this quiz to win a radio card. But this quiz is so _hard_!" She whined like a 6-year-old girl who didn't get her way.

"You should try, too!" Whitney said, brightening up again. "Then we can be failures together!" She clapped her hands together.

"….uh, yeah!" Tamaki grinned, backing away unsteadily. "I'll… go try and fail now! …yaaay." She walked three steps over to the attendant, who was watching the conversation half-heartedly.

"This is a radio card." She said quietly, sounding bored. "When you load it into the pokegear, you will be able to listen to the radio…" Her tone changed suddenly, as if she was reciting a motto. "Anytime! Anywhere!" She rolled her eyes, and her normal droll returned. "Would you like to try out quiz…?"

"…kay." Goldenrod citizens were…a mixed bag, huh.

"Can you check the town map with your pokegear?"

"… yeaaah?"

"Ding dong." She monotoned. "Good for you."

"Nindorina can only be female… true or false."

Tamaki blanked. What the hell was a nindorina. Rina was a female suffix, so… uh… "True?"

"Yay. You got it right." She clapped her hands together slowly. Tamaki felt like she was cursing her rather then praising her for the right answer.

"Kurt, the pokeball creator, uses apricots as ingredients?" Whitney leaned on the counter now, eyes wide. "I always get this one wrong!" She whispered quietly. Tamaki just fumed.

"… freaking… old men…" She scowled. "Can't believe he… and the asshole, together…" She glared at the floor. The questioner just glanced at her boredly.

"Going to answer the question or not?"

"False." Tamaki crossed her arms, pouting.

"That is correct. Wheee. Next question… It's impossible to use a TM on Magikarp. True..?" Now this was a pokemon Tamaki actually knew. Completely useless, the TV had told her. So that had to be right.

"True." She said, nodding.

"Wow, you are so smart. Last question: In Professor Oak's popular show, Pokemon talk, is he on with Marie?"

"…" Tamaki furrowed her brow, deep in though. She had only met the man once. It's not like they had chatted for hours about their social life. This one was actually hard…

"…Uhhh… Tru-" Whitney started shaking her head wildly. "…false?" Whitney smiled. The radio card attendee sighed. "Congrats. Here is your prize." She slid a small data card across the counter.

"Wowwww!" Whitney squealed. "You did it! You are like, awesome! Now I know the answ- … uh, I feel at lot more confident now! …I gotta get back to the gym. Byeeee!" And then she skipped away.

… Whitney was… a gym leader? …huh. Never would have seen that coming. …somehow. Tamaki would be seeing her again soon, then. Maybe she was smarter then she looked. In a couple hours, at least… for now, she was still on her "Explore the best city EVER" mission.


	10. and i don't know where to start

...chapter ten. Damn, I never thought it would actually get this far. Haha. For all of you readers out there: You are wonderful and ilu.

* * *

The sunlight hit her bare neck warmly, and Tamaki sighed happily, tightening her pigtails out of habit. Her red shoes hit the pavement in a steady beat as she jogged through the city, still staring around as she went. She jolted to a stop, staring at a tunnel. Shrugging, she and Floof stepped inside.

Immediately, she heard loud footsteps coming from the stairs. …oddly familiar footsteps. Floof bleated, surprised, as a Marill sprinted out from the top steps. …then it had to be-

"Ethan!" She grinned at him as he jumped up the stairs, two at a time. Like normal.

"Hi, Tamaki." He smiled, sounding weirdly apologetic.

"Oh man! It's been forever!" she exclaimed, overacting pushing her words to exaggerated stresses and volume. "Must have been what… three hours?" She laughed, holding on to the strap of her purse.

"I thought I would never see you again!" Ethan sniffed loudly, the back of his palm to his forehead. Tamaki giggled loudly, feeling like they were magically 11 again and still playing pretend games of being pokemon masters who were constantly traveling. He grinned boyishly at her, and she assumed he was feeling the same.

"So what's going on?" she asked, after they had found a million ways to reconcile over the course of 15 minutes, getting stares from the other man in the entryway the entire time.

"Just another present from me to you." He shuffled through his backpack, finally pulling out a sparkly pink heart shaped box. She hesitated when he handed it over to her, fingers overlapping.

"…Uh, thank you, but… what is it." Tamaki frowned, brows knitted together in confusion.

"…A fashion case. You can dress up Pokemon. …not really my thing." He laughed, glancing at the sparkly rhinestones that decorated the cover.

"…Nor mine," she said, moving it to her yellow bag anyways. "Maybe I can give it to Haruhi."

Ethan stopped for a second, grin threatening to tear his face, and then bust up laughing, leaning over.

"Do it! And get it on video!" he exclaimed between chortles, and she smirked at her own joke (and his reaction …was it really that funny? Mocking Haruhi had become second nature for her).

"He would kill me!" She giggled through her teeth, hand over her mouth. "He's pissed off enough about yesterday, so that's really not-"

Suddenly Ethan's loud, familiar laughter stopped. The corners of his lips fell into a frown.

"Yesterday?" His dark blue eyes stared at her, concerned, long bangs falling into familiar spikes around his forehead.

"… D-did I say yesterday? I meant a few days ago." Tamaki turned her face away as it rapidly gained color. She was not going to tell Ethan about…that. No, no, no, did she mention no?

"Tamaki..." he muttered in his Don't-Forget-I'm-Almost-A-Year-Older-Then-You tone.

"It's nothing," she said quietly, turned so all he could see was her pigtails, the back of her hat, and her bright pink ears.

She heard him sigh, and a thump that sounded like he had placed his head in his hands.

"Swear to…" He muttered a word she didn't recognize. It sounded foreign, like it was from another region. "If he hurt her…" She barely heard him; actually, he must have thought out loud, because he jumped when she replied.

"Not hurt. Embarrassed," she muttered matter of factly, turning to him, face still red, avoiding eye contact. He cocked his head to the side, messy hair shuffling to the left side of his face.

Tamaki coughed quietly. Did she really have to say it? She cursed Kurt. Last time she was helping some strange guy beat up Team Rocket.

"So. Um. I ran into him yesterday... And... and this old guy though... thathewasmyboyfriend. Anditwasstupid. AndIneverwanttoseehimagainand- I-I can't believe it- my _boyfriend_!" She shuddered like someone had dumped ice cubes down her shirt.

He looked into her hazel eyes, expression blank. "…and how did he react?"

"Oh," she said, thrown off. "Uh. Pissed, I guess. I ran off before I could interview him." She twitched her fingers against the hem of her overalls.

Moments passed by in awkward silence.

"Ethan," she said, sighing.

"I'm just worried," he muttered, tangling his fingers in his pitch-black hair.

"Which is sweet! And appreciated! But I don't need you losing any sleep over something stupid like this." She sighed, putting her fingers on her temple. "I can take care of myself."

"I know that." Ethan smiled slightly. "But just… call me if you ever see him again, okay?"

"Will do." That was a lie, and her heart thumped unpleasantly as if in protest.

"Call me for reasons besides that, though!"

She laughed. "Will do that, too!"

He mumbled out some goodbyes and walked out the door with Marill. Tamaki sighed, face in her hands. Haruhi was managing to ruin her life when he wasn't even around.

* * *

Downstairs was a nice little underground tunnel, full of trainers that she used to help out Rocky and Lolipuncher catch up to the powerhouses that were Floof and Eva. Finally she wandered over to a little camera set up, frowning at it. She had seen a few men asking if she wanted a complimentary photo, and she normally agreed if she wasn't busy. Why were they behind the counter, though..?

Tamaki approached them, a confused look on her face. One of the men grinned at her.

"Welcome to the Memorial Photo Studio! We are no ordinary studio! You can wear a Team Rocket uniform to take a picture!"

"…that is so weird," she said, wide eyed. How did they get the uniforms..? She imagined the men chasing after one of the grunts, demanding their clothes, and had to cover her mouth to muffle her obnoxious giggles.

"Would you like to try it?"

"… maybe… next time." She shook her head mildly. He shrugged.

Well, Goldenrod was kinda.. weird. But still awesome. She decided, as she walked up the stairs. She had run out of places to go now, as the other places were deemed lame or closed at the time. It was time to go say hi to Whitney. She moved through the city easily, as if she had been raised there instead of New Bark Town (God, how awesome would that be?), strode through the gym's door and was immediately amazed at the pink.

Pink floor, pink walls, pink flowerpots, pink everything. And stairs. Everywhere. Tamaki wandered up and down the levels on the gym, battling young lady trainers as she went, smiling at their cute pink (of course!) Pokemon.

Normal types, she realized, were barely weak to anything. Her Pokedex told her they were weak to fighting, but her team was definitely not built like that. Still, Eva and Floof were strong, and she managed. Lolipuncher was excellent back up as well. She had to go back and heal several times before she finaaaally found two familiar pink pigtails.

"Oh! It's you!" She beamed, eyes sparkling. "I knew you'd be over here!" Probably not. "Everyone was into Pokemon, so I got into it, too!" …because that was an excellent reason? Tamaki began to wonder how she got to be a gym leader. She was a sweet girl, yeah, and would probably be a kickass friend, but...

"Pokemon are super-cute!" A smile snuck up on Tamaki. Yeah, they really were. "You want to battle? I'm warning you- I'm good!" She grinned mischievously She grabbed a Pokeball, and sent out a Clefairy.

Tamaki sent out Floof, and was surprised to see that Floof was actually beat, level wise. That was new. Nonetheless, Floof plowed through the pink Pokemon (and it's annoying, annoying attacks), but it took longer than usual.

Tamaki was not letting herself be thrown off.

However, she did falter when she saw the giant pink cow.

"…It's… so… cute!" Her tone was amazed.

"I know!" Whitney giggled, hands together. "It's a Miltank." She said, as she noticed Tamaki grab for her Pokedex. The brunette shook her head. She was not going to be distracted by a pink cow, adorable or not.

She attacked with Floof, watching Whitney counter it flawlessly with Stomps and Milk Drinks and Rollout- screw Rollout. And Attract. Her poor cute little sheep was smitten.

And just fainted.

WHAT?

Her eyes widened in complete shock as the electric type fell to the ground.

"T-that's never happened before." She shook as she called Floof back into his Pokeball, switching for Rocky, knowing his strength against normal type moves.

He too fell easily.

Lolipuncher.

Dropped to the ground in a couple turns. Why were almost all her Pokemon male? She sent out Rena, way under leveled and not used to fighting, just refusing to switch to Eva, her absolute last resort. One stomp and Rena was done. Tamaki's heart sunk to her stomach as she sent out her Quilava, her partner in crime, her first Pokemon.

Whitney's Miltank had barely been scratched, due to the Milk Drink spam keeping her completely healthy.

She kept hitting Eva over and over with Rollout, and Tamaki desperately used potions to heal her, noticing the attack gaining power each time. _She was not going to lose._

Whitney looked on expressionless, as if bored, calling out for Rollout repeatedly. When she saw Tamaki's fire type finally drop the ground, her lips twitched into an apologetic frown.

Tamaki dropped to her knees. "Eva…" Her shoulder shook. She wasn't going to cry. She stared at the ground as she pet Eva's neck, cringing at her ragged, slow breathing. Not going to cry, she chanted in her head as she took Eva back to her Pokeball. She vaguely heard Whitney say something as she walked out of the gym, back straight, trying to hold her head high in some form of dignity.

She walked past the glass doors, dropped to the ground, and buried her head in her arms and sobbed. Everybody loses. So why did it suck so bad?


	11. nothin's gonna ever keep you down

Tad late, sorry guys! I'm replaying Emerald, yaaaay.

* * *

Three days later, Tamaki sighed melodramatic sighs as she reclined on a pink couch in Goldenrod's Pokemon center. She fiddled with the buttons half-heartedly.

"Hey! It's Ethan!" She inhaled sharply, defeated, as she recognized the voice message she must have listened to a million times in the past few days. "I'm busy doing something or another, so you're just going to have to leave a message and hope I'll get it. Sorry about that." A laugh, and then a beep. She sighed as she clicked the pokegear off.

She had challenged Whitney about 6 times already, each time getting just a little closer to beating her. And still failing miserably. She mused that she'd probably would have gone crazy if she were in any other city. At least Whitney wasn't a bitch about it.

This was probably how Haruhi felt every day. No wonder he was such a grouch. Tamaki pushed herself off to the couch. "One last time today, okay?" She smiled apologetically at Eva, sulking on the floor next to her. Her Pokemon had been out of spirits for the past few days, feeling guilty for letting her down. In turn, Tamaki felt guilty for making them feel like that… which just made everyone rather depressed.

Pulling her bag onto her shoulder, she yawned, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Today, she'd beat her. Definitely.

* * *

Tamaki breathed deeply, feeling tense. Whitney was biting the inside of her cheek, arms crossed, looking more deep in thought and troubled then she had ever seen her. Stupid pink cow couldn't spam Milk Drink anymore. Ha ha. She still had Floof and Eva, with Eva spitting fire with a determined look on her face on the gym floor. That Damn Cow was struggling now. Mwa. Ha. Ha.

Her face was hiding her maniacal grin, at least. She kept her composure, hands clenched at her sides; still ordering Eva to continue her fire attacks. Whitney fingers rose to her lips, and she chewed her nails nervously. Eva managed to dodge a rollout, for once, and then suddenly turned, tackling the gym leader's pokemon head on. The Miltank wobbled for a second, and crashed to the ground with a loud thump.

Tamaki's jaw dropped. Whitney eyelids fluttered, and she rubbed her eyes, amazed. Eva pounced backwards, turning to Tamaki as if asking for confirmation.

"… is.. is it really?" Tamaki stumbled on her words. Whitney dropped to the ground, checking her Pokemon's slow breathing and nodded wordlessly, returning the pink pokemon to it's pokeball. She glanced down, pigtails hanging loosely around her ears.

Tamaki blinked, feeling dizzy. Suddenly her Pokedex started beeping loudly. She picked it up, and turned to Floof, who was looking rather glimmery. She glanced at the screen.

"Floof is evolving!"

Floof bleated, sounding confused. He started glittering so brightly she couldn't even see him, and she turned away, blinking hard.

"Fee~!" Eva jumped in surprise as she looked at the brand new Floof. He was taller, standing on two feet. ..and pink.

"Congratulations! Your Floof has evolved into a Flaaffy!"

Laughing triumphantly, Tamaki skipped towards her electric type and picked him up, spinning around as he bleated cheerfully along her giggles. It took her a few minutes to stop rejoicing and to realize Whitney was crying loudly. She blinked, feeling awkward, stepping towards the teenager carefully.

"… a-are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Whitney exclaimed between sobs, voice high and squeaky. "I'm just- n-not used to losing…" she rubbed her eyes and clenched her teeth, slowly stopping her shoulders constant shaking. "I'm really happy for you- I am! B-but I just thought I had the b-best team of all time…" she sobbed again and Tamaki exhaled, smiling silently.

"Hey. It's okay." She kneeled down next to her. "You are by far the strongest trainer I have ever met." Whitney smiled, unsure, and then sighed.

"You're a lot nicer then that jerk who beat me the other day." She harrumphed, arms crossed, eyes still red but no longer glistening with tears.

"… Oh god please don't tell me that he's a re-"

"A red haired guy. Toooootal jerkazoid." Tamaki rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. I know him. Unfortun-" Whitney continued as if she didn't hear her.

"Really cute though." Tamaki's eyes widened in horror, and the pink haired girl gasped at this.

"Oh snap! He's your boyfriend, isn't he? I'm so sorry!" She clapped her hands over her mouth. Tamaki gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening and closing several times before she managed to shout "NO!" way too loudly. She covered her face with her hands, blushing _again_. "Why does everyone _think that_?"

Whitney cocked her head. "Hmm?"

"N-nothing! He's not my boyfriend, okay? " She glanced away, trying to cool her face down with her hands.

"… uh huuuhh. Kay. Anyways. Here." She poked her in the arm with a shiny yellow square. "It's the plain badge." She turned and digged into a pink purse at her side. "Ooh! And this! TM45. It's.." she stopped for a second, giggling loudly. "…attract. You can teach it to your Pokemon, or maybe.." she smiled, winking, and was slugged in the arm before she could continue.

"Owww! Fudge, that hurt!" Whitney whined, rubbing the area. Tamaki scoffed. "You deserved it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!" They both ended up busting up into laughter, giggling loudly on the pink-carpeted floor. After they managed to regain their composure, Tamaki stood up, fixing her pigtails. "I'm really really really behind. Want to exchange Pokegear numbers?" She hadn't actually asked anyone before but Whitney was… the first female friend she ever had. It was nice, the thought of talking to someone who was not Ethan.

"Of cooourse!" She grabbed for Tamaki's pokegear and began punching the numbers in, while the brunette did the same for Whitney's.

"Good luck with Morty!" Whitney smiled, waving.

"Hope I don't need it." Tamaki laughed, and she and Eva bounced out of the gym happily.

* * *

In the cheerful afternoon sun, Tamaki skipped through the route to the north of her, fighting trainers and fixing up her team. She was in a superb mood, as were her team, enjoying the win at the gym immensely. She was about halfway to Ecutreak, according to her Pokegear. She had already adventured through this awesome park, with lots of awesome pokemon, and… awesomeness!

She stopped, glancing at a young brunette girl who waved and motioned to her wildly.

"I'm the Flower Shop's Floria! Listen, listen! When I sprinkled water on that wiggly tree-" she pointed to a strange tree a few feet in front of her. "It jumped right up! It has to be a Pokemon!"

Tamaki paused, digging through one of her bags pockets. "Would this work?" She held up the blue SquirtBottle.

"Yeah, yeah! Use that!" Tamaki shrugged and walked over to the tree, holding the bottle in front of her like a gun. She spritzed it, feeling a tad anxious. After some confusion with it's… green ness, she figured it out it was a rock type and attacked it with Lolipuncher, who took it down easily. The little girl clapped excitedly, laughing.

"Oh woooow! That was weird!" Tamaki laughed with her, shrugging. Her entire life was weird, but meh.

"Here!" Floria felt around in a little blue bag decorated with a white flower pattern. "Take these!" She handed her 3 small berry pots, and Tamaki stuffed them into her bag, as the norm.

"You can grow berries in there!" She blinked. …there was a purpose for the berries her mom always bought?

"Thanks!" She grinned and continued skipping on.

After navigating another route with not one- but _two_ double battles, Tamaki found herself stumbling into Ecutreak. It was a small town, but a gorgeous one. The sky was starting to change into a lovely pinky-orange color, which only complimented it even more. She stopped in front of a red and blue building.

"Looks cool." She shrugged, walking inside. Immediately her ears were harassed by the screechy voice of a young man in a Team Rocket uniform up on a stage with… the Kimono Girl. Wait, she was from here?

"Stop dancing such a serious dance!" He chided. "Show me something like a hula dance!" He then began spinning around, hands on his hips. "Aloooha Oi, Aloooha oi~!" The Kimono girl frowned, shaking her head.

"I can't accept such a request…" she protested, sounding slightly frightened.

"You tellin' me you don't respect what the customer wants?" She jumped back, and he laughed.

"I'll show you how to dance! I'll show you the best dance ever!" He started twirling around the stage wildly.

Tamaki sighed angrily. Ohhhhh how she hated Team Rocket. Stomping past other audience members, she climbed up to the stage.

"That's enough!" She pointed her index finger at him.

"Huh? Who's you supposed to be?" He slurred. "Hey hey hey! Don't get in my way!" He took out a Koffing. Tamaki rolled her eyes, letting Eva shoot it down with a one-hit-KO.

"…uhhh…" He stared at her blankly. "… gottagobye!" he raced down the steps, and Tamaki growled. Not getting away this time, punk! She jumped down the stairs two at a time, when suddenly an older gentleman stopped her.

"It's okay, it's okay." He patted her on the shoulder.

"B-but! But!" She protested, and he shook his head.

"You've done enough." Tamaki sighed.

"I want you to have this." He smiled gently at her and picked up a HM from a TM case. "It's HM03, Surf."

"….ooooh." he laughed.

"That make you feel any better?  
"…yeaaaah." He laughed again. She thanked him, grinning, and ran out the theater. This, was turning out to be an absolutely awesome day.


	12. cause you're not where you belong

Late again, sorry! I hope the content of this chapter makes up for it, hehe.

* * *

Tamaki yawned and stretched as she continued walking around Ecruteak. After small chatting with some locals, she decided to check out the gym to see what type "Morty" specialized in. She was still planning on exploring and relaxing for a few more hours, so she wasn't exactly disappointed when an old man stopped her at the front of the gym.

"Are you here to challenge the gym leader?"

"Not exactly, n-"

"Morty has gone to the burned tower. Sorry, you'll have to leave." He laughed old mannishly and shoved her out the door without another word.

"…Okaaay then." She shrugged. …Guess she was checking out the tower sooner then later.

* * *

After a quick stop at the Pokemart, Tamaki strode up the stairs of the tower, cautious on her every step. It gave her the creeps, to be honest. Pushing open the door, her gaze automatically fell to the giant hole in the floor.

And the FREAKY ASS POKEMON DOWNSTAIRS.

She jumped back without thinking, and a blonde man in a cape approached her, laughing. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

What no. They were gaudy and colorful and auuugh.

"My name is Eusine." He held out a gloved hand to her, and she hesitantly took it. "I'm on the trail of a Pokemon named Suicune." He stopped, fished around in one of his purple vest's many pockets. Finding a small case, he opened it and handed Tamaki a business card. She blinked twice, putting it into a small pocket in her bag. "And who would you be?"

If he was expecting a business card, he was going to be disappointed. "Tamaki, New Bark Town. Hey."

"Nice to meet you, princess." Tamaki stared at him blankly. "… Last time I try any nicknames on you, huh. Anyways. I've heard rumors that Suicune is here. And as you can see.." Eusine gestured to the gap in the floor. "The purple and blue one." He smiled.

"That one is the coolest." Tamaki admitted.

"I know, right?" He sighed then. "I could go downstairs, but I know it would run away." He sounded very depressed about this. "I know. …I've tried it very, very, very, very, very.."

He was lost in memory lane, so Tamaki took the time to excuse herself and move over the blonde behind him.

"Oh. Hello," he said, politely. "I'm Morty, the Ecutreak gym leader. I was happy to hear Eusine was back in town, but of course all he's doing here is standing and watching the legendary beasts- Entei, Raikou, and Suicune."

"Doesn't he like… always do that, though?" Tamaki replied, frowning slightly.

Morty laughed. "Pretty much."

"Whitney says hey, by the way." She waved and turned away from him. Huh. To go downstairs or not..? She was staring up at the ceiling, which was as patchy as the stairs. She could see the clouds high in the sky. When she looked back in front of her, she noticed that same teenager who had been haunting her for the past week, arms crossed and scowling at her. The usual.

Tamaki was slowly getting used to finding Haruhi absolutely everywhere. Didn't mean she'd ever _like_ these surprise encounters, though. Ugh. She sighed and he glanced her over.

"Oh. It's you." He leaned back, hands in his pockets, glancing over at the legendaries. "You must be here to catch the legendary Pokemon to make yourself look strong." He tch'd at her, continuing. "Keep dreaming, 'princess'."

Tamaki glared at him, ignoring how hot her face was getting. Damn you, Eusine. "Oh? That sounds more like your idea. You and your obsession over 'weak' things." She used air quotes for emphasis.

He glared at her. "The legendary Pokemon suit a trainer like me better."

"Because you are soooo strong, you know, having _never beat me_."

"Go back to battling Team Rocket grunts, Tamaki." Haruhi commented coldly, dark storm cloud eyes as cold and threatening as usual. She faltered. She hadn't actually felt threatened by him since they first met, but… … no! What the hell was this, she was not going to back off and run away. He was Haruhi, the girly haired wonder. Hell no.

"Oh, we're on a first name basis now, huh? That's good. Now you can tell people who kicked your ass." She smirked and motioned for Floof, who tiptoed carefully in front of her.

"Have it your way," he muttered dismissively, and sent out his Gastly.

* * *

"Whatever!" he scoffed, taking his Bayleef back into it's ball. "Weak people do okay at fighting back, you know. ...sometimes."

"Is that what helps you sleep at night..?" she replied with a grin, crossing her arms.

"You're like a walking headache," he said, two fingers on his temple.

She stepped closer to the edge, glancing down at the Pokemon on the bottom floor, ignoring his complaint.

"You know, it's too bad I'm too "weak" for these Pokemon, they look pretty co-" Tamaki's compliment was cut short as the floor boards fell out from under her. She didn't even have the chance to scream.

She squeezed her eyes shut without thinking, not opening them even when she realized she was not actually falling, but instead hanging, her left wrist being grasped tightly.

"Idiot!" Haruhi's insult forced her eyes to open. She looked up. He was kneeling on the floor boards, leaning down for her, Floof holding on his ankle, as if he was worried the red haired teenager would tumble off too.

"What the hell were you doing!" He lectured her. This felt very surreal. Maybe she fell and landed on her head, and now was just imaging things. "Come on! Give me your other hand so I can pull you up!" He sounded like saving her was the worst chore in the world.

Tamaki obeyed, reaching her right hand up to him with little effort. He took it with his own. They were holding hands. Kinda. Oh god, Whitney would have a field day with this. With a small grunt, he pulled her up. She tried her best not to lean against him, but her knees were feeling wobbly. Stupid knees. She backed off and he released her hand, looking away.

Floof bleated, sounding worried, and she hugged him tightly. "I'm fine, Floof. All's good." Floof gave a bleat that sounded suspiciously like "Thanks to him." Tamaki looked up again and saw him staring at her, looking the least angry or smug she had ever seen him.

"…"

…Was he waiting for a thank you? She bit her cheek. He did save her. He was an asshole, but… stupid moral compass.

"…Thanks, Haruhi."

"You owe me one," was his only response.

"… Oh."

Silence passed by, awkward but different from usual. He was waiting for something. A sarcastic comment, maybe. An idea blinked into her head. Tamaki started rummaging through her purse, finally finding the bright pink object.

She stood up, handing it to a dumbfounded Haruhi.

"Here. It's not much, but you could sell it for a lot, or…something." He stared at the fashion case critically.

He nodded at her and slipped the fashion case into his black messenger bag without a word. Then, he turned and walked away.

Tamaki let out a sigh as soon as he exited the tower. She noticed Eusine walking over to her, grinning as his cape flowed behind him.

"I saw the whole thing! You are an excellent battler by the way. But isn't it a bit late for Valentines?"

She felt confused. It was August. What the hell was he talking abo-?

A pink, heart shaped box.

…Oh.

"No! It's not like that… He's… he's…" She needed a word, a word, a word… "He's my rival!" That'll work. "And I don't even know why he saved me," she added dismissively.

"I see. Well, I was here to suggest you go down the ladder. It seems fate wants you to meet the legendary beasts."

…Couldn't fate find a less dangerous way to get her down there? She nodded anyways, and walked over to the ladder.

As Tamaki climbed down the ladder, she kept sighing. She really hoped Haruhi wouldn't bring it up again. …But she still owed him. Fine, if she ever saw him in a life-threatening situation, she'd do her best to save him. There.

She stared over at the legendaries, trying to gasp quietly. They seemed so… amazing. As Eusine predicted, Raikou and Entei began running away- to where, Tamaki didn't know, not seeing another door on this floor- but Suicune stopped for a moment, looking her over. She tried not to blink. In another moment, it ran off again.

Eusine climbed down the ladder quickly and jumped off the second to last wrung to stand next to her.

"Did you see it!" he gushed. "Ten years, ten years of chasing Suicune… I've never been this close. …I'm all choked up." He sniffed. "It seemed to notice you."

"Maybe it was trying to apologize for my almost dying earlier."

Eusine laughed. "Perhaps, or perhaps it's more then that… I think we will meet again, Tamaki." He bowed his head and went running towards the ladder again.

Waiting a moment, she followed him up the ladder. She noticed Morty was gone as well. Walking out of the tower, she maneuvered over to the Pokemon center solemnly. She had had enough excitement for the day, really.


	13. if there's a prize for rotten judgment

Oh god this chapter is so mega late I AM SORRY EVERYONE. On the plus side, I uploaded the first chapter of the Haruhi POV fic, Marshmallows & Meringue, the other day, so go check that out on my profile if you're interested. Next chapter of this will be up much, much fast.

* * *

She raised her head from the pillow silently, and massaged her eyes and cheek sleepily. Tamaki had slept rather horribly, and, checking her Pokegear, had slept in rather late. She swiped her folded clothes off the carpet, silently padding over to the bathroom.

One quick, way-too-cold shower later, she pulled her hair into twin ponytails and shook her head. She still didn't even know Morty's type- ugh- she hoped it wasn't ground, or something. He dressed in a lot of purple, was that supposed to be a hint…?

She bumped her nose into the door of the gym accidentally while she was deep in thought, and winced, stepping back so it could slide open.

Now that there was nobody blocking her way, she saw the transparent platforms floating along in pitch-blackness. It sent an unpleasant shiver down her back. The aptly timed crack of lighting did not help at all.

…It was definitely the ghost type gym, she decided with a grimace as she took a step forward.

Ohhhh how she hated this gym. It was really, really, really, annoyingly dark, and whenever Tamaki took a wrong step DUE to this annoying darkness, she was sent back to the door and forced to retrace her steps. Which she didn't always do well. So back to the start. Again.

And there were an insane amount of old ladies on her path, who… were annoying, but at least her team was strong and managed. … Besides the damn darkness, but annnnyways.

She, then, was not very smiley when she approached Morty, standing between two giant candles.

"Hello. I'm glad you're here." His tone was courteous as usual. "When I saw you in the Burned Tower, I realized your potential… You see, I have a mission. This city has a legend about a legendary Po…"

Tamaki was a bit too tired for this story, and didn't really catch much of it, though she would have probably summarized it as "There's this bird and I want to catch it so fight me." Which she complied with, because… well, he _did_ ask nicely.

He started off by sending out a Gastly, and, without any real helpful moves, she just relied on Eva and Floof's pure strength to beat it and the blonde's other Pokemon. She found herself thanking Whitney, for training with her for the past few days- she had a new sort of confidence and inner strength flexing through her very pigtails.

Floof and Eva served her well- as usual- taking down Gastly, then Gengar (who was just plain annoying, thank god she stocked up on awakenings the night before). Haunter, and Haunter again.

As Morty returned his second Haunter to it's Pokeball, Tamaki stifled a yawn and replaced it with a smile.

"Bravo." His blue eyes twinkled under his headband. "So be it. This badge is yours." Tamaki's arm popped out from her side automatically. The fog badge gave a little 'chink' as it fell into her palm.

"You can now use Surf out of battle. And a gift." He gave her a TM, which she had become rather used to. "Shadow Ball." He smiled again, and gave her a little bow.

He was _definitely_ born in the wrong century, she decided as she exited the gym, but she could see why Whitney had a crush on him…

After hitting the rest of the tourist stops in Ecruteak (including another tower, whose door she got kicked out of in about 5 seconds flat) Tamaki turned to the east, and found a hiker with another shiny HM. After a small happy dance, she backed back into Ecruteak and headed to the west.

The sun was hidden behind some gloomy clouds as Tamaki wandered through Route Whatever. Trainers were sprinkled across the grass and trees at random, and she battled them with a casual, still sleepy air.

Of interest, however, was when she walked boredly through the grass, she found a cow. A pink cow.

"You're mine!" she declared gleefully, grinning at the Miltank. Alas, she was wrong. Thus began her hour-long search for a normal type pink cow of her own. She relayed the pain of her work later, sitting on a ledge near a farm, legs tucked up, her newest team mate sleepily reclining next to her, to Whitney.

"Her name's Lily-Anne and she's the _sweetest_ thing," she gushed, patting the Pokemon on the head softly.

"Ahhh, so is my girl, she's adorable and she smells really good, for a cow, y'know," Whitney said.

"Morty says 'hello,' by the way." She could hear Whitney's soft giggle.

"He's so chaaarming." Her voice rung out like a bell on the word. "And your boy?"

"My what?"

"The redhead," Whitney answered matter-of-factly.

"…Oh. Uh." Hesitating for a second, Tamaki relayed the rescue from the day before; glad her friend didn't see how pink her face was getting as she talked about it. So, very, very awkward.

Whitney reacted how she expected, with a lot of giggles and "oooh!"s.

"So yeah, that happened," Tamaki finished lamely.

"Hmmmmmm." She could hear Whitney tap her fingers in thought. "Well, you thanked him, right?"

"Of course!" Tamaki scoffed.

"…With your body?"

Tamaki let out a small scream that frightened the cows (and people) around her. Whitney was cackling loudly on the other end, gasping for air.

"You're horrible!" Tamaki scowled, comforting Lily-Anne, who was not used to her owner screeching like a dolphin at random.

"Oh, fine. So what did you thank him with?"

"…Words?" she answered, dumbfounded. …Obviously? She paused for a second. "…And I gave him one of those fashion cases, I didn't want it."

"Oh ho ho."

"It's not like that! I just felt like I should give him _something_. I didn't want to be… rude." She rubbed her forehead.

"…Well, you know what I th-" Farther off, Tamaki could hear someone bellowing Whitney's name.

"What is it?" the gym leader called, sounding slightly far away.

Tamaki couldn't hear the reply.

"Oh, do I _have_ to?"

Another inaudible reply.

"Augh, fine."

The Pokegear returned to her ear with a muffled noise. "Sorry, new challenger bla bla bla. Talk to you later!" she chirped, and hung up abruptly.

Tamaki returned the Pokegear to her bag, feeling a mixture of disappointment and relief. She gave Lily-Anne another pat on the head, and slid off the ledge.

Walking along the route again, she encountered a strange little man with a brown and purple hat.

"Hello!" He smiled at her. "Is that a Pokedex?" He pointed to it, hanging off her bag. She nodded. "Haven't seen one of those in ages. I'm Baboa. I'm working on a new Safari Zone here in Johto. Would you mind exchanging Pokegear numbers? I'm more then willing to call you, first thing when it opens!"

Despite Tamaki not having a clue what a Safari Zone is, she agreed and began typing in his number. He was a nice old guy, really.

Battling yet another group of trainers (this route was just full of them, huh?) Tamaki was glad to see she had finally reached the next city (which a sign helpfully told her was named Olivine.)

She hadn't even planned to go into the gym. She was just going to head straight to the Pokemon Center, when the doors to the gym slid silently open and Haruhi stomped out, scowling at the ground, eyes slowly raising to notice her.

She blinked at him, feeling surprised and dizzy.

"You again?" The anger in his face slowly dropped, to a curious but annoyed expression. Tamaki just sighed, jumping back and preparing for another fight. To her surprise (again) he just shook his head softly.

"No need to be alert. Not bothering with wimps like you right now."

Tamaki glared at him, arms crossed, silent as Haruhi continued on.

"The gym leaders not here." He gestured vaguely towards the gym behind him. "At the lighthouse. Taking care of-" He stopped suddenly, clearing his throat loudly, looking annoyed. "...of a sick Pokemon." His voice faltered on the last syllable and turned into a hoarse cough, which he buried into his sleeve.

Recovering, he muttered quietly- "Waste of time. Sick Pokemon should be let go." He coughed again, worse this time, making Tamaki cringe. He sounded horrible.

She raised an eyebrow at him, turning her head to side. "That's ironic."

"What?" He glanced at her, confused. "The hell does that mean?"

"You're sick. Probably got a cold," she added, smirk playing onto to her features.

"What? I'm not…"

His protest was quickly cut short, as Tamaki walked around him, grabbing him by his arm and dragging him towards the Pokemon center. Despite nurturing a way-too-feminine jackass redhead back to health not being her favorite hobby, a way to get rid of her debt had approached, and she wasn't going to let it walk off grumbling and coughing.

"W-what are you doing?" She heard the screech of pavement as Haruhi pushed his feet against it, forcing her to turn to look at him. His face was bright red.

"And you've got a fever, too. Jeez. C'mon, I'm just taking you to the Pokemon Center. Not kidnapping you." She took a big step forward, pushing her weight to get him to move some. He resisted still, wrestling his arm away from her fingers. She almost fell over, wobbling uncertainly on the ground.

"Hey! I'm n-" He coughed loudly and deeply glared at the ground, clutching his throat.

"You. Are. Sick," Tamaki repeated, "And if you don't follow me, I'll battle you right now."

Haruhi sighed grumpily, but crossed his arms and followed her silently without any more protests.


	14. the lighthouse beam has just run out

Yaaay early chapter is early!

* * *

The two of them proceeded through Olivine's streets, Tamaki quietly admiring the city's sights and the gentle sea breeze drifting along the air. She stopped suddenly in front the Pokemon Center's doors, Haruhi standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder next to her. The 5 inch height difference was pronounced as she looked up at him, waiting for him to move. He stared straight ahead, face still rather pink.

"What are you waiting for?" She frowned at him, curious.

"You first," he answered. Tamaki scoffed.

"Okaaay, Mr. Chivalry." She rolled her eyes and walked through the doors backwards, not wanting to look away and enabling him to escape. Haruhi glared at her. Typical.

She continued walking backwards until she crashed into a potted plant, knocking it off the table. Haruhi chuckled darkly as she dropped to the ground to put it back up. Ignoring him, she replaced it and walked over to the trainers section of the building, checking over her shoulder to make sure he was following.

He was, still scowling and coughing alternatively. She turned forward again and guided him to the medicine counter, where she politely asked the woman for some cough medicence. She complied, asking for a small amount of money, a bit more then Pokemon meds. Tamaki shot Haruhi a glare that said "You're paying me back", and handed the money over to the woman, who handed her a small, purple bottle.

The two of them plopped down onto a purple cushy couch, and Haruhi fumbled with the bottle, uncapping it and downing a cupful of medicene like it was a shot. Grimacing, he looked at her.

"Now what? Going to make me eat chicken soup?"

"Maybe, if it doesn't cost a fortune," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "You should get some sleep."

"Sleep?" He scoffed. "I need to get going, not waste my time napp-" another hoarse cough, "-ing."

"The gym leader isn't even here, what can you do?"

He became silent and stared up at the ceiling, Tamaki was feeling a bit of pride for shutting him up once again.

"Plus," she added, "you'll get better faster that way." She knew damn well he would just escape as soon as she had left the building, thankfully, she had a plan.

After making sure he was fed (listening to his bitching the entire time), she dragged him off again to the trainer's dormitories, it being as empty as she expected. The rooms were filled with simple cots, 4 to each, with a little bed side table for each one. This Pokemon center had three rooms. She had noticed the amount of rooms depended on the city- small towns, like Cherrygrove had 1, while Goldenrod had a grand total of five. The rules said girls to one room, boys to another, but she had noticed absolutely no one actually paid attention to this. She smiled slightly, remembering on one of her mornings in Goldenrod where she had to run out of bed, away from the several boys waking up in the room, wrapped in her blanket, to the bathroom, wishing she had better pajamas then a tanktop and shorts.

This reaction was not noticed by Haruhi, who had found a bed and flopped onto it loudly, lying on his stomach, face hidden. The way he did this- looking like a kid who just threw a tantrum- made her laugh out loud, and Haruhi rose his head to glare at her.

"Go to sleep," she reminded him, perching herself on the bed next to him, Lily-Anne climbing up next to her.

"How can I, when you're here… staring at me."

"I'm staring at you so you don't run off and make yourself worse. "

He pushed his head into his pillow, giving Tamaki the impression he was not happy she had figured him out so quickly.

"So what are you going to do until then..?" he said, turning slightly, so she could see his hair hanging over his face.

"Oh, I dunno, figure out what to draw on your face, I guess," she replied. His head gave a little jerk of alarm. "Kidding."

"I knew that," Haruhi muttered, and turned away from her.

"Aren't you going to take off your jacket?" she said, a few minutes later.

He grunted in reply, pulling his jacket off over his head, messing up his hair slightly. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt, somewhat loose in him in an on purpose sort of way. Tamaki was surprised to notice his arms weren't scrawny. They weren't buff either. She could vaguely see his muscles in the dim light, looking strong but not very much so. She turned her focus to the medium to large size bruises dotting them, looking as if they had been there for years…

He was a mysterious guy, really. Maybe they were from some fight in the past. She yawned, glancing up at the ceiling, wondering what she was going to do until the boy stopped feigning sleep and gave in to slumber.

In the end, Tamaki had decided to groom her Pokemon, carefully brushing Eva's fur over and over, typing little bows to Floof's wool (she didn't care if he was a boy, he loved them, bleating happily as she attached each one) and shining up Lolipuncher's leaves. After she had attended to this for what must have been a couple hours, she suddenly remembered she was babysitting someone.

A quick glance at Haruhi proved this sleep was the real deal, he had rolled over to his side and was now facing her, eyes shut, breathing evenly but hoarsely, cough still in his throat. She had blocked out his coughing when she was fixing up her team, but still, she hoped Haruhi would actually listen to her and sleep proper.

Deciding it was safe, Tamaki quietly slipped off the bed, tiptoeing out the room and opening and shutting the door silently. Thinking for a moment, she reopened and shut the door a bit more loudly, and sat, waiting, for twenty minutes, waiting, for Haruhi to march out, thinking he had tricked her. Eventually, she decided he was really, actually asleep, or, he was smarter then her and waiting even longer. She decided it was the former, not really enjoying the alternative.

She exited the Pokemon Center and headed straight to the lighthouse, allured by it's tall-and-… shininess. She found herself in a very good training spot, with trainers everywhere, and it was a good chance to get Lily-Anne up to the strength of the rest of her team.

Up and up she went, going up ladders and doorways, until she found herself at the top of the lighthouse, the air pushing her pigtails around and threatening to toss of her large white hat.

The view was _beautiful_. She ran up to the rail, and put her hands on it, pushing herself up as if to get an even better view. She considered, for a second, sitting on the edge itself, but then looked down and imagined a Tamaki colored splat on the ground and thought better of her idea. Instead, she leaned her elbows on it, chin cupped in her hands. She stood like this for a while, watching the sea, thinking deep thoughts.

She liked this city.

She really did.

After a bit, she took a deep breath and returned to her journey up and through the lighthouse, climbing one final ladder and finding herself facing a young woman, older then Whitney but under 20, looking at her, surprised. Next to her was a yellow Pokemon, that looked somewhat like Floof, and Tamaki realized that it must be the next stage of evolution for Flaaffy.

The girl- She must have been Jasmine- turned to the Pokemon and looked at it, concerned. "This Pokemon always kept the sea lit at night… But it suddenly got sick. She's..." Her voice faltered, she sounded like she was on the brink of tears, and Tamaki felt a dull ache in her heart, thinking of how she'd feel if one of her team mates got sick. "… She's gasping for air.

"...I heard," she turned back to Tamaki, "that there's a wonderful pharmacy in Cianwood. But… I can't... I can't leave Amphy, and it's across the sea…" She looked up at Tamaki, eyes full of tears, a silent question on her lips.

Tamaki looked at her.

"I'll do it."

Jasmine swallowed, and brushed the tears out of her eyes. She nodded, and pushed open a little electronic gate in front of them. Tamaki walked out and turned to the elevator, goal in her head and determination in her heart.

Before leaving, she had a quick stop at the Pokemon Center, hesitating as she glanced at the doors to the trainers' section. …She must have been gone for an hour, it wouldn't hurt to check… She nodded, as if confirming that this was a good reason. Tamaki strode into the dorm where she left him, and sighed softly in relief. He had moved again, now sleeping on his back, and she almost smiled as she saw how different he looked, without the smug expression or scowl… She stood at his side for a moment, amazed at his passiveness, and reached out a hand without thinking.

Too late, she jumped to her senses, and she was already touching his red hair, soft and well cared for… he really was girly. She laughed, quietly, and slowly moved her hand away, as if any sudden movements would wake him up. Tamaki gave one quick glance over her shoulder before exiting out the door, on her path to Cianwood.


	15. just keep swimming

Not late, nor early! Hooray!

* * *

Tamaki stood at the shore of the beach, looking out across the deep blue sea. Well, she could kinda see Cianwood- Really far off- but… how… How was she supposed to get there?

She pulled out the Surf HM, looking at it curiously; waiting for it to tell her it's secrets.

… She needed a water pokemon. Badly.

She turned and ran back into town, and, much to her relief, found a trainer willing to give her a fishing rod to catch a water type. Tamaki biked across the beach, loving how the wheels easily pushed through the sand, and jumped off delicately.

Pulling out the fishing rod, she uncertainly swung it towards the water and watched it hit with a small splash. She stood; staring for a few minutes, before the rod almost flew out of her hands. She yelped, standing back and reeling carefully, and saw a rather annoyed looking Staryu jump out on the beach, hurtling water attacks at Lolipuncher.

She carefully timed and picked Lolipuncher's attacks, allowing him to let the Staryu's health get low, but not oh-god-its-going-to-faint low. She threw an ultra-ball and… yaaaay!

Tamaki ran to the Pokemon Center, making a beeline towards the PC, and deposited Rocky, taking out the new member- Jose, she decided- in his place. She taught it Surf quickly and ran off towards the beach at a steady, quick pace.

Knees tucked in, she sat uncomfortably on the water type's- face? Did it have a face?- as Jose moved through the water effortlessly, despite the 110 pound weight on its head. It was odd to battle this way, to say the least, as she was constantly stopped by swimmers who butterfly stroked over to her, demanding a battle. She then had to grab for one of her Pokemon at her waist, trying not to capsize and drown.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to just swim to Cianwood, she decided while frowning at her water-soaked sleeves. Too bad she was an awful swimmer, and would probably need to get rescued by one of those creepy swimming guys in Speedos…

After much complaining and uncomfortableness, Tamaki jumped over to the dock, feeling much more appreciative for land. She turned and helped Jose out of the water and into its Pokeball, and ran for the center off town, feeling the pressure of the setting sun behind her.

Maneuvering around the Gym and Pokemon Center, she noticed the town's lack of PokeMart. Instead, there was a small wooden shop to the left of the Pokemon Center. She quickly strode up to the man at the desk. "I need some Pokemon Medicine! Fast!… uh, please." Tamaki added quickly.

"Your Pokemon look fine.." he said mildly.

"Not mine! Uh. Olivine. Lighthouse Pokemon! Really sick- Can you give it to me now, please?" She felt jumpy and panicky, worried about the lost time spent surfing. She hoped Amphy was still holding on…

"Oh! Well, this ought to do the trick." He pushed a potion over to her. "It's very strong. I only offer it in emergencies, because-"

"Thank you very much, bye!" Tamaki spun around and ran out the door before he could finish.

The trip back was much faster, due to all the trainers on the route not bugging her. She stood up on Jose this time, wobbling so badly Jose had to swerve in the opposite directions several times to prevent her from a watery grave (okay, perhaps a bit overdramatic, but… a watery-drinking-of-lots-of-salt-water, at least.) It helped their speed considerably though, and she jumped off the water type as soon as they were close enough to shore, soaking her socks and shorts, running at a pace that sent large splashes of water up with each stride.

Not even taking the time to pull out her bike, she ran all the way through Olivine, straight to the Lighthouse's doors, pushing them open and leaving her sandy footprints behind her. From the elevator, she went straight to the top floor and sighed with relief when she saw Jasmine still petting a weak (but breathing!) Amphy.

Tamaki walked slowly, regaining her breath, over to Jasmine.

"H-here." She handed the potion over. "S-sorry… I'm l-late..."

"Will that medicine cure Amphy?"

Tamaki nodded, feeling confused, when it suddenly hit her that she might not have been the first trainer sent to help heal the electric type…

"Um… p-please don't b-be offended… Amphy will not take anything from anyone but me…" Jasmine gave her a sad, apologetic look.

She shook her head. "It's fine."

Jasmine nodded and turned to the yellow Pokemon, lifting up its head, and uncorked the potion. She poured it into Amphy's mouth, who bleated weakly. After downing the whole potion, Jasmine recorked the bottle and stepped back.

"Amphy..? How are you feeling?"

Amphy wiggled her ears, giving a few happy bleats. Suddenly, she began to flash brightly, light illuminating the room, until the entire lighthouse lit up, guided by the electric type.

Jasmine gave a true smile, tears in the corner of her eyes.

"…Oh, I'm so relieved.." She put a hand over her heart, sighing with her eyes clothes. "Thank you so, very, very much. If you excuse me… I must return to the gym."

Tamaki nodded and watched her climb gracefully down the ladder.

… Well, that was done. She shuddered, feeling cold and sandy and ugh. She walked out of the elevator and past the lobby, noticing night had fell, but the light from the lighthouse shone like a second moon. She stopped at a clothing store, picking out some cute moon-and-stars pajamas, before heading straight to the Pokemon Center and it's wonderful, wonderful showers.

Feeling much warmer and squeaky clean, she towel dried her hair, letting it hang loosely over her purple camisole. She was pretty much set to dive straight into bed, when a voice startled her so badly she jumped.

"Where have you been all day…?"

Between getting attacked by waves and her rescue mission, Tamaki had... well, blanked on the fact Haruhi was still recovering at the Center. He sounded much worse, voice still hoarse but more then that, he sounded disorientated and out of it.

"Uh. …Saving that Pokemon the gym leader was worried about. I went all the way to Cianwood to get some meds…" She yawned, stretching, putting away her clothes in her bag. He said nothing. She considered her thoughts for a moment. "And how are you?"

He glanced at her, skeptical. His hair was messy and sticking up at the ends. "Horrible. My head hurts like hell and I feel insanely dizzy. I think the meds made it worse."

"That's not even possible." Tamaki scoffed, folding up one of her socks. "If you're planning on challenging Jasmine, you're going to have to wait until your head's clear. And then," she packed the rest of her laundry neatly, "there's the Cianwood gym. If you try and surf right now, you will drown and die and I will have to fill out annoying police reports."

"My cold seems to be very trying on your lifestyle," he deadpanned, rubbing his nose on his arm.

"It is."

"Well." Haruhi looked down at the floor, bangs falling over his eyes. "Thanks, I guess."

She blinked at him. "You? Apologizing? …You must be seriously out of it right now. "

"… What, do you have a problem with it?"

"It's suspicious," Tamaki replied, glancing at him with contempt.

He held his palms up in a mock surrender. "Fine, fine, I'll leave." He coughed loudly and scooped his bag off the floor.

"No!" Tamaki stood up immediately, hands on her hips. "You're still sick, you're going to-"

"I'm not being serious." He rolled his eyes, like it was insanely obvious and she just missed it because she was dense. "I just want to get some fresh air before I fall back asleep. Again. Here." He threw his bag onto the ground. "Collateral."

"So I can destroy it if you don't come back?"

"Destroy it, sell it, steal it for your own-"

"I'd never steal your stuff, you've contaminated it," she retorted.

Haruhi scoffed. "Same to you! Why is everything you own pink?"

"Not everything!" She yawned loudly without meaning too.

He just smirked and turned away from her. "You should sleep."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, dropping back to her bed. "Don't stay out all night, or you'll be stuck with this cold for another month."

"Got it." He sat back down. "Anything else? Don't talk to strangers, etcetera?"

She shook her head. He stood up.

"Wait. Actually. Uh. Haruhi?"

"What?"

She felt her guts give up on her. This was a stupid thing to say. Why was she even bothering…?

"…Nothing."

"It's not "nothing", if you're stopping me to say it…" he yawned again, and looked straight at her. "Just say it, don't be a wimp."

"Oh, very encouraging!" She retorted, arms crossed tightly.

"Uggghhh. You're making my head hurt. Goodbye." He began walking away. Crap. She called out to him again.

"Wait!"

He turned around. "Now what?"

She took a deep breath and summoned the quietest-audible voice she could manage.

"… You know… I think… I can actually stand you when you're sick. …kinda." She looked down at her knees for a bit after she said it. When she looked up, her heart skipped a beat. Or seven.

He was smiling.

At her.

Haruhi was smiling at her. A small half-smile, yes, barely evident in the dim light, but she could see the edges of his lips slightly turned up, not looking bitter or smug or anything else she was used to.

If he said something, she didn't hear it. All she could hear was her heartbeat, loud and steady, and the butterflies fluttering around her stomach. When he finally moved away from her and freed her from that weirdly-out-of-character expression, she flopped down onto her bed and sighed, her face feeling so hot she was worried it'd burn through her pillow.

Tamaki dreamed that night of chasing a floating pink blob across a field. Unfortunately, it could fly and she couldn't, so she tumbled off the cliff, falling into a deep ocean, where she met an angry sea dragon thing.

It was weird.

When she woke up, Haruhi was still dozing next to her, looking grumpy. She sat up, holding her head in her hands. He was sick and delusional. That was all.

Or at least, that's what she told herself to keep her sanity intact.


End file.
